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The Township Board meets on the
second Thursday of the month at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room at
Regular Office Hours are from 8:00 a.m.
until noon and from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Township Hall
is closed on Saturdays and Sundays, New Year's Day, Memorial Day, July 4th,
Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and
Christmas Day. When Christmas Day falls on Saturday, the preceding Friday is
the holiday. When Christmas Day falls on a Sunday, the following Monday is
the holiday. When Christmas Eve falls on Friday, the preceding Thursday is
the holiday. When Christmas Eve falls on Saturday or Sunday, the preceding
Friday shall be the holiday.
Office Help: At the reception
desk you will find Cindy Gerlach.
Treasurer Dorothy Simmons is in the office on
Tuesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. until her work is done.
Deputy Treasurer Wesley Lind is in the office on
Mondays and Wednesday from 9 a.m. until noon. One of the two is in the office
on Fridays from 10:30 a.m. until the work is done. To ensure that someone is
here to answer your questions, it is suggested that you call first.
Summer Taxes: The summer tax bill
is sent by July 1st, and is payable July 1st through September 14th without
penalty or interest. Beginning September 15th through September 30th a 1%
interest charge will be added. An additional 1% per month will be added on
the 1st of each month to the unpaid balance.
Deferment of Summer Taxes: The law provides that
beginning September 15th, a 1% interest be paid. However, these taxes may be
deferred without penalty until February 14th, for any taxpayer who is a
senior citizen 62 years or older, including the unremarried
surviving spouse of a person who was 62 years of age or older at the time of
death; is totally and permanently disabled person; blind person; paraplegic;
quadriplegic; eligible service person; eligible veteran; or eligible widow or
widower or otherwise eligible whose household income does not exceed $35,000
per year. Applications for deferment are available at the Treasurer's office
or see link on this page and must be returned to their office by September
14th.
Winter Taxes: The winter tax bill
is sent by December 1st, and is payable December 1st through February 14th
without penalty or interest. Beginning February 15th a 1% penalty will be
added. Beginning March 1st all real taxes must be paid to the Berrien County
Treasurer,
Review Your Tax Bill: After receiving your
tax bill, review it carefully. Please make sure that your homestead
percentage is correct. If a correction is needed, please call the phone
number on your tax bill immediately so that an adjustment can be made at the
July or December Board of Review.
Escrow Accounts: Please check to see
if you are coded for a mortgage company on your tax bill. If you have an
escrow account and this tax bill is coded with a number in the box marked
Bank Number this means your mortgage company has requested a copy of your tax
bill, and the treasurer has provided an extra copy to them. If there is no
number in that box, your bill has not been sent to your mortgage company.
Therefore, enclose one copy of the tax bill with your next mortgage payment.
Payment by Check: Checks are accepted
only as conditional payment of taxes. If the check is not honored by the
bank, the tax is considered unpaid and will be restored to the tax roll
without further notice. A service charge may be applied to checks returned
from the bank. Failure to send or receive such notice shall not in any way
prejudice the right to collect or enforce the payment of any tax.
Assessor Jeanine Moon is at the
The Board of Review consists of
Elizabeth A. Rettig, W. Timothy Hawkins and Edward Gramberg. They meet in March, July and December.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR
NOTICE OF ASSESSMENT (And how it affects
your 2009 taxes)
LINE 1 - TAXABLE
VALUE - THIS IS WHAT YOU PAY TAXES ON! (2010 TAXABLE VALUE
multiplied by MILLAGE = 2010 TAXES)
The figure on this line is used to compute
the amount of money you will actually pay in real estate taxes. Unless
there has been new construction, demolition, or a change in ownership,
these figures are "capped" annually (under Proposal A - 1994). The
most that the taxable value can increase from year to year is 5% or the
Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the current year - whichever is less.
1997 and 1998 CPI were 2.8%; 1999 CPI was
1.6%; 2000 CPI was 1.9% 2001 and 2002 CPI were 3.2% 2003 CPI was 1.5% and the
CPI for 2004 and 2005 is 2.3%. The 2006 CPI is 3.3%.The 2007 CPI is 3.7%.The
2008 CPI is 1.023%.The 2009 CPI is 4.4%. The 2010 CPI is -.3%.
AGAIN, LINE 1 IS WHAT
YOU ARE TAXED ON.
(EXAMPLE: Take the figure on Line 1 for the
current year and multiply it by 2. This is the value of property you are
being taxed on.)
LINE 2 - ASSESSED
VALUE - THIS IS WHAT YOUR PROPERTY IS WORTH! (2010 ASSESSED VALUE multiplied
by 2 = FAIR MARKET VALUE OF YOUR PROPERTY) YOU ARE NOT TAXED ON
THE ASSESSED VALUE!!
The figure on this line is one-half (1/2) of
the Township's determination as to the actual "Fair Market Value"
of your property. This figure is raised (or lowered) from year to year based
on sales studies from actual real estate sales in your neighborhood. This
does not affect your taxes!!
For the year 2010, Chikaming Township
received an overall increase/decrease of -2.65% on Residential, +2.25% on Agricultural,
-1.85%% on Commercial and -5.20% on Industrial properties from sales in the
township.
WHAT IS THE BOARD
OF REVIEW'S JOB?
The Board of Review is set up to determine
whether or not your property is "fairly assessed" (FAIR MARKET
VALUE). They can only help you if you have documents to verify
what you believe the Fair Market Value to be.
To view and/or
print any of the following documents, click on the document Citizen Fact
Sheet on Assessing
· Petition to Board of Review · Application for Deferment Of Summer Taxes Homeowners\Principal Residence Exemption Affidavit
Request to Rescind Homeowners' Principal Residence
Exemption |
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Copyright ©
2005 •
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