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Assessor reports expanded field reviews after sales growth; HOPE exemption applications up
Summary
Deputy CFO and Assessor Alvin Horn said the assessor's office exceeded the required 20% field reviews in 2024, shifted inspections to neighborhoods with rapid market change, and reported a year-over-year rise in new HOPE property tax exemption applications.
Alvin Horn, deputy CFO and city assessor, told council the assessor's office conducted more on-site field reviews in 2024 than the 20% threshold set by ordinance and focused inspections in neighborhoods with notable sales and development.
Horn said districts 1, 2 and 3 saw proportionally more site visits because those neighborhoods experienced the largest shifts in ownership, development and land-bank activity. The assessor's office said Districts 6 and 7 will receive more field visits in the coming year.
Horn described the mass-appraisal approach used under state law: assessors use neighborhood sales and condition data to set values rather than appraising every house individually. He noted Detroit's housing stock is old; "the average age of a single family home in Detroit is 93 years old," which affects condition and effective age assumptions that feed assessed values.
The assessor's presentation showed HOPE property-tax exemption program activity has been rising; Horn said the slide reflected new applications each year and that roughly 6,200 prior approvals roll over annually, so total participants are higher than the new-application counts alone.
Council members raised concerns about perceived overassessment in some neighborhoods and asked for follow-up. Horn and OCFO staff said they are awaiting a forthcoming independent IAAO (International Association of Assessing Officers) review and noted that larger statutory reforms would require action at the state level.
Ending
Horn said the assessor's office will report back when analysis of the increased HOPE application volume is complete and will increase field review presence in Districts 4, 6 and 7 in the next cycle.
