Township passes state-mandated assessing audit

By Lisa Brody

Darrin Kraatz, Bloomfield Township assessor, reported to the board of trustees at their meeting on Monday, July 25, that after undergoing a rigorous review of Audit of Minimum Assessing Requirements (AMAR), the township had received a perfect score.

AMAR is a requirement of the Michigan State Tax Commission, to determine substantial compliance with the requirements of the General Property Tax Act. Kraatz explained it was reworked in 2015 to analyze assessing, “and this was our year. It's a pretty extensive list. You either pass or you fail. They review to see if you are doing items correctly.”

Local units of government that do not meet one or more of the minimum requirements must submit a corrective action plan detailing how and when the deficiencies will be resolved. Municipalities are given a year to fix the problem. Kraatz explained issues can cost a municipality like Bloomfield Township “hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.”

If issues are not fixed, it could result in the State Tax Commission assumption of jurisdiction of the assessment roll.

“This is big news for us – we received a perfect score – both for Bloomfield Township and Sylvan Lake, because we do their assessing, as well,” he said.