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Ways and Means committee backs 2025 Wayne County equalization report showing countywide assessment gains
Summary
The committee recommended county-equalized values showing a 7.6% overall rise in assessed value and a 9.2% increase in residential assessments, and advised the full board to adopt the report required under the General Property Tax Act.
The Wayne County Commission Ways and Means Committee voted to approve and forward the county's 2025 equalization report, which recommends county-equalized assessments that show an overall 7.6% increase in assessed value and a 9.2% increase in the residential class, Scott Van Amergel, director of assessment and equalization, told the committee.
Van Amergel, the county's technical adviser on assessments, said "all classes of property are recommended to be county equalized as assessed," and that the report shows the county's taxable value rose about 5.5% compared with the prior year. He said the inflation rate multiplier used in the calculation was 3.1% and estimated the increase in taxable value could yield roughly $24,000,000 in additional tax revenue for the county.
Why it matters: county-equalized values are the technical basis for apportioning property tax rates among local units and for the commission's statutory responsibilities under the General Property Tax Act (sections 34 and 37). The committee's recommendation moves the report to the full commission for formal adoption and to enable tax-rate apportionment later in the fiscal year.
Van Amergel highlighted local variations in appreciation: several lower-priced communities posted larger percentage gains, while previously higher-priced communities showed slower appreciation. He told the committee that Detroit-area jurisdictions including Hamtramck and River Rouge had double-digit increases (River Rouge example cited at about 17%), and that Inkster's assessed values rose by about 22% year over year.
Commissioners asked for and received clarifications about how the 7.6% figure was computed. Van Amergel said the 7.6% figure is the overall, weighted average across all classes (residential, commercial, industrial) and that the 9.2% figure referenced the average residential increase across local units. He explained that the components of taxable-value growth include the inflation multiplier (3.1%), the uncapping of taxable value when properties sell, and net additions from new construction.
The committee did not change assessed values at the meeting; Van Amergel recommended the full county commission adopt the county-equalized values as presented. The full commission will consider formal adoption and the apportionment of tax rates at a subsequent meeting.
Ending: Van Amergel provided the committee with a detailed equalization report and said staff will supply commissioners with community-by-community breakdowns on request.
