Helping you understand the role of the township in the administration of property taxes.

The official government site of Blendon Township, Ottawa County Michigan

7161 - 72nd Avenue  *   Hudsonville, Michigan 49426
Phone (616) 875-7707   *   Fax (616) 875-7034

Blendon Township is pleased to offer an online tax and assessment information service provided by BS & A Software. This free service allows access to township tax information and assessment data. This research tool will allow you to research tax and assessment data in Blendon Township without the necessity of calling the assessor or front desk.  Click here to access this valuable service.*
* Please note that Blendon Township is currently in the process of entering all building data into the online data system. The data currently found on the system may not be complete.

PROPERTY TAX

The Township’s role under the Michigan State property tax law is largely an administrative function.  The tax historically is levied upon 50% of the value of real property and it is the Township’s responsibility to determine the value of each parcel of real property that is located within its boundaries.  The Township will perform this task through the “Assessor” who is specially trained to apply various standards of valuation to make a determination of the value of a parcel and to subsequently assign an “assessed value” to each parcel of real property.  The objectives of the valuation process are to determine those features of a parcel that are common to similar parcels regarding their state of improvement and those features that are uniquely different.  From this process an assessed value, (AV), is determined for each parcel.  Under Michigan law the assessed value, (AV), of a parcel should be nearly equal to one half of the true market value of the parcel.  The value that is established for your parcel is one of the two main components of your tax bill.

In the year 1994 the voters, by a referendum vote, passed a proposal that amended the Michigan Constitution that, among other things, established a “Homestead Exemption” for a person’s principle residence (PRE).  The benefit of this PRE is that these “homesteaded” parcels are exempted from the local school district’s operating millage of 18 mills. 

Along with the principle residence exemption, the 1994 proposal created a new assessing term called taxable value.  The taxable value is the basis upon which the millage rate is multiplied to determine the amount of tax for each parcel.  The provisions of the 1994 proposal allows the taxable value to increase by not more than 5% per year OR the rate of inflation, whichever is less.  The effect of the taxable value is to hold down the value upon which a property is taxed while the assessed value of the parcel may continue to rise with the value of the real estate market in general.

Another administrative function that the Township performs under the State of Michigan property tax law is the collection of property taxes for all taxing units of government.  The Township, therefore, in addition to the collection of its own property tax revenue, has its Treasurer act as the collection agent for the county, the local school districts, and the State of Michigan.  Your tax bill reflects a 1% collection fee.  This collection fee goes to your Township Treasury to help defray the administrative cost of collecting the taxes.

Another component of the property tax is the actual tax rates.  These rates are expressed as a millage or the amount per thousand.  These millage rates in Blendon Township are established by law or a vote of the people.  The 6 mill rate applied to exempted homestead property values is levied by the State of Michigan to finance education and was set by the voter approved Proposal A in 1994 that also established the principle residence exemption (PRE).  The approximately 3.5 mills levied by Ottawa County are for the operation of county government.  There are also voted millages to finance the emergency 911 dispatch system and expansion of County parkland.  The school districts levy millages that were voter approved for the purpose of retiring debt that has accumulated from the financing of school building construction projects.

Blendon Township collects just under 4 mills for its own treasury.  Of these 4 mills, Blendon receives approximately one mill from the County Allocation Board for the purposes of financing the general operations of the Township.  The people of Blendon Township have voted certain additional millages to finance other important local governmental functions.  One and a half mills have been voted to operate and maintain a Fire Department and provide emergency services in Blendon Township.  The people have also voted one and a half mills for the purpose of financing the construction of paved roadways within the Township.

It is this valuation process and this collection process that constitutes the functions and role of Blendon Township in the administration of the property tax system for the State of Michigan.  A more intricate and detailed explanation of this system and the processes that are involved in its administration can be gained by speaking with the Township Treasurer and the Township Assessor.



This chart represents the sale of a typical home in Blendon Township and demonstrates the relationship of the selling price to the State Equalized Value (SEV) and the Taxable Value of the home.

The blue bar represents the actual selling price of the home and thus establishes the actual market value.

The red bar represents 50% of the actual market value and therefore the amount at which the home should be properly assessed according to Michigan statute.

The yellow bar represents the SEV of the home prior to the sale and demonstrates a slight difference between the proper assessed value as established by the selling price and a typically lagging SEV. (It is this difference that shows up in sales studies of various taxing units that drives up the SEV of similar type properties in the same taxing unit on an annual basis.)

The green bar represents the amount of value upon which the home was actually taxed, assuming that the home was covered by a 100% PRE (principle residence exemption). The Taxable Value cannot increase more than the rate of inflation or 5%, whichever is lower. The gap between Taxable Value and SEV as well as Actual Market Value will often be increasing as long as the property remains titled to the same owner.



This chart represents the distribution of a property tax dollar in Blendon Township.

The percentages of the pie chart represent the number of cents from each dollar that is distributed to each of the units of government represented. Approximately 17 cents of each tax dollar remains in the treasury of the Township and the remainder is distributed to Ottawa County, the School Districts and the State of Michigan. The chart is representative of a tax dollar from a residential parcel with a 100 percent PRE (primary residence exemption), homestead exemption. Non exempted parcels are also charged the full 18 mill School Operating millage. This chart is an example of a parcel in the Hudsonville School District with a 100 percent PRE (primary residence exemption).

This chart demonstrates the distribution of the approximately seventeen cents of each property tax dollar that remains in the Township Treasury. 

Approximately four cents is allocated to the general operational expenses of the Township. The Fire Department receives two cents to help defray its operational expenses and approximately four cents is allocated for the financing of equipment acquisitions and building improvements. The Township retains approximately seven cents of every tax dollar for the purpose of financing the construction costs of road pavement projects.