Access to Assessment Records
The State of Michigan’s 2011 Audits of Minimum Assessing Requirements (AMARs) includes a section on the public inspection of records, particularly assessing records. For Townships that don’t have regular office hours – or whose assessor is at the Township Hall less than all day, every day! – compliance can be difficult. As a result, many County Treasurers are asking Townships to adopt a “policy” regarding access to assessment records. If you’d like a policy for your Township, call or e-mail Roxanne Seeber at our office.
Rox also says an FOIA policy and a notification of assessor information should satisfy the AMAR requirements as well. “And,” Rox continues, “at the very minimum, all Townships with websites need to place a link to the county’s tax record search/parcel search on their website as soon as possible.”
For more information about AMAR requirements and how your Township can best meet them, or for copies of either or both types of policies, please call Rox at Bauckham Sparks at (269) 382-4500. Or, simply send her an e-mail by clicking this link: seeber@michigantownshiplaw.com. We welcome any questions you may have!