May 10—FRANKFORT — A state tax judge issued a final opinion in favor of a local woman challenging the city's assessment process after the equalized value of wetland property she owns increased exponentially.

"I'm very happy about it," Thelma Rider said of an opinion issued April 29 by Michigan Tax Tribunal Presiding Judge Patricia L. Halm.

"And, I'm happy to hear that Frankfort is looking for a new assessor," Rider said.

The current assessor is Christy Brow, whose contract expires at the end of June. While City Superintendent Josh Mills clarified the job is indeed posted, that doesn't mean Brow can't re-apply.

"We have a July 1 fiscal year so, even when things are ideal, we seek out supplemental proposals to consider — especially when it comes to the assessor position," Mills said. "About every six years or so, we test the waters and see what firms are out there. That's what we're doing in this situation."

Brow, of Michigan Assessing Service Inc., was hired in 2017 as the City of Frankfort's assessor. State records show she also serves as assessor for two communities in Leelanau County — Leelanau Township and the Village of Suttons Bay.

Brow said in an email that she stands by her work in assessing Rider's property and that there's no reason for Michigan Assessing Service, Inc., of which she is president, not to submit a bid.

"If an Assessor left their jurisdiction every time there was an issue with a Taxpayer, no jurisdiction would have an Assessor," Brow said.

Frankfort's City Council members will have the task of deciding who to hire as assessor, Mills said.

Beyond Rider's wetlands

A number of Frankfort property owners in recent months have expressed confusion and frustration with their property tax assessments, including six people who spoke during the public comment portion of the March 18 City Council meeting.

Among them were a married couple, Matthew Valascho and Frances Pablo, who purchased a vacation home in December 2020 for $489,000.

Brow, two months later, in early 2021 assessed the home at $454,000 — meaning the taxable value of the property (the value used to calculate property taxes) was more than $900,000.

In 2023, the taxable value rose to about $1.3 million, records show, and Valascho's and Pablo's appeal to Frankfort's Board of Review for that year was granted.

Valascho and Pablo are still fighting the 2021 assessment, and hired an attorney to appeal that case to the state tax tribunal, records show.

Most cases have to go to a local Board of Review before a property owner can appeal to the state, but, in this 2021 case, Valascho and Pablo said they didn't get their notice of assessment in time to do that.

Their case has yet to be scheduled for a state hearing, records show.

Frankfort's government watcher

Rider, who describes herself as a "government watcher," became a fixture at municipal meetings last year after receiving the 2023 Notice of Assessment on two vacant lots she owns within city limits.

The lots, both small and unbuildable, are next door to Rider's home on Betsie Lake — a wetland connecting the Betsie River with Betsie Bay, between the M-22 bridge and an old train trestle.

The boundary between Crystal Lake Township and the City of Frankfort cuts through Rider's property, her house is built on a township lot and the adjacent vacant lots are in the city limits.

City of Frankfort tax records show one of these lots was assessed at $1,200 in 2022 and $56,100 in 2023. The other lot went from a $1,100 assessment in 2022 to $45,300 in 2023.

When the local Board of Review denied Rider's appeal in March 2023, Rider hired an attorney and, in July, appealed the increases as arbitrary and unsupportable to the state tax tribunal.

Brow had said in a tax hearing that the assessment increases were warranted and backed up by market conditions.

Brow submitted as comparable sales several vacant waterfront lots with frontage on Crystal Lake and Lake Michigan, which Rider's attorney, Paul Callum, said made no sense.

In April 29, Judge Halm, using common tax tribunal vocabulary, agreed.

"The ALJ's determination is supported by the testimony, evidence and applicable statutory and case law," Halm's opinion states. "Given the above, the Tribunal adopts the POJ (proposed opinion and judgment) as the Tribunal's final decision in this case."

Rider's proper assessments (SEV) are $1,600 and $5,280, the judge said.

In March, an administrative law judge had issued a proposed opinion, Rider and Brow each had 21 days to file exceptions, but neither party did and Judge Halm finalized the opinion, closing the case.

Either party can still appeal, within 21 days, to the Court of Appeals or by writing the tax tribunal, but that doesn't look likely.

Assessments, SEV and taxable value

Mills said he was aware of Rider's tax tribunal case, adding it was important to note that Rider's taxes never went up.

Her "taxes didn't go up, her SEV went up, she's not being taxed on that," Mills said. "Typically, the SEV is derived from sales studies and from forms provided by the State of Michigan."

A property's assessed value, when multiplied by two, is supposed to give an approximate market value.

A property's state equalized value is the assessed value, plus any adjustments set annually, county by county, by the state tax commission.

A property's taxable value generally increases year to year, by either the rate of inflation or by 5 percent, whichever is lower.

The taxable value — not the SEV — is the amount the property owner pays taxes on.

Rider agreed that her property taxes didn't go up much, but she said that misses the point.

"What that was trying to do was change the use on those properties to be buildable," she said of the appealed assessment on her lots which, because of setback minimums, do not have buildable sites.

"If I had just let that go through, if I hadn't appealed, the taxable value would have changed, it would have gone up, because they could have said those lots are buildable now," Rider said.

In her tax tribunal appeal, she said she has spent about $5,000 in attorney fees and had asked the judge to charge those fees back to Brow.

A review of dozens of tax tribunal cases show such an award is rare.

Judge Halm denied that portion of Rider's appeal, stating that Rider was not required to hire an attorney (she could have represented herself) and that there was no "frivolity" or questionable motives in Brow's calculations.

"Regarding Petitioner's request for costs, the Tribunal is generally hesitant to award costs, and usually reserves such action for cases in which frivolity or other good cause exists," Judge Halm said in her opinion.

"Here, the Tribunal is not persuaded that Respondent's primary purpose was to harass, embarrass, or injure, or that they had no reasonable basis upon which to believe the underlying facts of the assessment were true."

'Rarely are they well-received'

Records show Rider in February submitted complaints against Brow with two state offices, the Department of Attorney General and the Tax Commission.

The AG's office previously said they have no role in reviewing the complaints and the tax commission is the proper recipient.

The tax commission, on April 6, stated Rider's complaint was proceeding to investigatory review, which does not mean there was wrongdoing, but simply that Rider had submitted the required documentation.

Brow said she'd been contacted about the complaint by the tax commission, had responded and was awaiting any other possible requests.

"They may want to speak with me personally, but at this point they have not requested it," Brow said.

Brow was previously the assessor for Benzonia Township and, during her tenure there, a large number of property owners appealed their assessments to the state tax tribunal, sometimes more than once.

Between 2014 and early 2016, tax tribunal records showed more than 35 appeals while similar size communities averaged a handful: Lake Township, in the same time frame, had six appeals, Homestead and Inland townships each had four appeals, Colfax had three and Gilmore and Joy townships had one, records show.

Benzonia Township did not renew Brow's contract and meeting minutes show officials held special meetings about the issue that sometimes that included seeking legal advice.

Brow said, as was the situation with the City of Frankfort, close attention to properties in Benzonia Township had been neglected for a number of years and new figures can be accurate without being popular.

Brow said Michigan Assessing Service Inc. was brought into Benzonia Township to conduct a full re-appraisal, which included an audit for fair and equitable assessments and any omitted property.

"A large number of appeals is par for the course following a full re-appraisal," Brow said. "Rarely are they well-received."

"I don't think the Board Members were prepared for how unpopular it made them," Brow said "Their property owners did not like the disruption in the status quo. Unfortunate, but not uncommon."

Rider said she is keeping a close eye on her own property tax documents, and that she's heard from neighbors concerned about the accuracy of documents for their properties.

"If I have one piece of advice, it's ask for your property card," Rider said. "Not just once, but every year.

"You never know what you're going to find on there."