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Eaton County assessor reports 8.3% countywide SEV increase; ag and residential classes jump
Summary
Assessor Tim told the Ways & Means committee the county’s State Equalized Value rose about 8.3% overall, with agricultural and residential classes showing the largest gains. He said tillable land values and sparse sales volumes in some villages explain much of the change.
Assessor Tim reported that Eaton County’s State Equalized Value rose roughly 8.3% year‑over‑year, driven by sharp increases in the agricultural and residential property classes. "In the agricultural class, that increase was the largest increase we've had in quite some time," Tim said, noting a recent agricultural rise of about 7.35% and that tillable land values were higher across the southwest to Sunfield corridor.
Tim listed township‑level changes: Brookfield Township up about 13.2%, Chester Township 13.8%, Eaton Township 15.2%, Roxanne Township 14% and Vermontville 10.6%. He said residential values increased about 6.76% overall after several years of double‑digit gains; the City of Bellevue showed an 18.7% spike but with a small number of sales.
Tim explained the appraisal‑to‑sale comparisons were close: "We came at 48.73 per acre minus improvements versus actual sales... 48.78, so we're really close on that." He also noted commercial values rose about 3.39% and industrial class values rose roughly 5.48%, with local city‑level transactions accounting for some industrial increases.
Commissioners asked staff to clarify how the CPI interacts with rollback calculations; controller staff confirmed the current CPI figure is 3.1% for next year. Commissioner Augustine and others asked about the fiscal impact of prior rollbacks; Tim estimated the impact from a prior heavy rollback at roughly $1.4 million to $2 million depending on the aggregation of prior years' rollbacks.
The report concluded with staff noting that while taxable values continue to grow, the widening gap between taxable values and true cash value can complicate long‑term revenue forecasting.
