Assessing Department

Assessing & Tax Information at BS&A

Assessing information, including year built and square footage, and tax information is available online from BS&A. A fee of $3 will be charged for this information unless you are looking up your own property. If it is your property you will need to register, but the information is free.

Assessing & Tax Information (BS&A) »

Principal Residence Exemption

Conditional Rescission of Principal Residence Exemption (PRE)

Michigan law allows a property owner to receive the PRE on his or her current property and on a previously exempted property simultaneously if the previous principal residence is not occupied, is for sale, is not leased, is not used for any business or commercial purpose.

The PRE on the previous principal residence can be claimed for up to three years. Form 4640 must be submitted each year to the Assessor’s Office no later than December 31 of the year requested. Existing Conditional Rescission forms can continue to be submitted for a total of three years.

Veterans Exemption

Disabled veterans who wish to apply for an exemption of property taxes must file annually. Required information includes your DD214, VA benefits page, and the State of Michigan Disabled Veterans form. If you have questions, contact the Assessing office.

Poverty Exemption

Poverty exemption forms are due December 12, 2023 (Board of Review meeting date). Hardship exemption forms must be returned no later than March 14, July 17 and December 12, 2023.

Land Divisions, Combinations and Lot Line Adjustments

Land Division Application - Fee of $200 per parcel created. Payment can be made with cash or check made out to Spring Lake Township.
Transfer of the Right to Make a Land Division (Form 3278)
Property Line Adjustment/Combination Application - No fee to adjust a lot line or to combine parcels

Applications for land divisions must be approved by the Building and Planning Department. After that approval, the Assessing Department will work with Ottawa County to create the new parcels.

Lot mergers, lot splits and lot line adjustments require deeds. These deeds must be recorded before a new parcel number will be issued. All approved land divisions must record documents for any ownership changes within 90 days of the approval with the Spring Lake Township Assessing Department and/or with the Ottawa County Register of Deeds or the land approval will be null and void.

Summer and winter taxes for the year of the land division should be paid by the end of the calendar year in which the division is requested. Once the new parcel numbers are issued, the old parcel number will become inactive; however, the taxes must be paid before a land division is finalized.

PROPERTY TAX NOTE: Any split or combination approved during the calendar year will not have property taxes assessed on the new parcel numbers until the following calendar year's July tax bills. All taxes for the calendar year in which the approval was given will be assessed on the parent parcels only.

Land divisions are processed in and become official in January. Any application received between February and December may be processed early, but there is no guarantee, and the new parcel numbers will not be official until the next tax roll.

Assessment Change Notices

Assessment Change Notices (Michigan Department of Treasury Form 1019) are mailed at the end of February each year.

This notice will inform you of changes in your assessed and taxable value. This notice will give you the CPI (consumer price index) for the upcoming year, the new values, the PRE percent, current owner of record, and the dates and times of the March Board of Review. If you do not receive your notice or have questions after the notices are mailed, please contact the Assessing office.

March Board of Review is held yearly by law the second Monday in March. We schedule 10 minute appointments for taxpayers who wish to appeal. If you are away from your residence during that time, we accept written appeals, but they must be received by the deadline listed on the Assessment Change Notice.

Assessment Information Guides

Personal Property - Information for Businesses

Anyone doing business in Spring Lake Township and the Village is required to file annually the Personal Property Statement (Form 632). The due date is February 21, 2023. If the form was not completed by this date please file what you have and file an amended form when it is completed. Changes in the application of the property tax law have taken the privilege away from the governing units to correct late-filed statements. All forms estimated by the Assessing Department are AS IS and cannot be corrected.

Beginning in 2019, the State changed the filing requirements for Form 5076, Small Business Property Tax Exemption Claim Under MCL 211.9o. Specifically, the filing requirements have been changed to provide that eligible taxpayers do not have to annually file to receive the exemption. Taxpayers who filed for the exemption in 2019 do not need to file Form 5076 to claim the exemption. Once granted, the assessor will then continue to exempt the personal property until the taxpayer files a recession (Form 5618) indicating they no longer qualify for the exemption. New businesses must file Form 5076 this year to claim the exemption.

Following Sales

“Following sales,” the practice of assessing properties which have recently sold significantly differently from properties which have not recently sold, is unconstitutional and illegal. An assessor cannot use the fact that a parcel has sold to trigger a review of the parcel. See this memo from the State Tax Commission for more information.

Equalization/Apportionment Reports

The Economic Condition Factor (ECF) adjusts the state mandated cost manual to the local market. ECFs are analyzed annually and adjusted by the assessor to reflect the local market. The calculated ECF is applied to the neighborhood market. The neighborhoods in Spring Lake Township are listed in the Detailed Land Table. note that the ECF is applied only to the building improvements on the property.

Detailed ECF Table
Detailed Land Table

Additional Resources

Property Tax Estimator – The State of Michigan has a property tax estimation calculator available. Note: This estimate does not include special assessments including the fire services district, light district or lake boards.
Michigan State Treasury – Forms and information regarding assessments.
Property Search (Ottawa County) – Find assessed value, sales history, split history, GIS map and tax information
Ottawa County GIS – Aerial views of all of the parcels in Ottawa County.