Office
Assessor: James Totten, MAAO-3
Email: assessor@birchruntwp.com
Hours: Wednesdays, 9:00 a.m.–11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.–5:00 p.m.
What the Assessor does
The Assessor uses methods set by the State Tax Commission to value real and personal property uniformly throughout the township. Each year, assessment notices are mailed in February and tax rolls are certified for use by the Treasurer.
Property records
Property record cards — including photos, sales history, building dimensions, year built, land area, taxes, ownership, and residential features — are available for review at Township Hall and through the Saginaw County GIS portal. Brief inquiries can be handled by phone; detailed lookups and multi-parcel research require an in-office visit or the county GIS site.
Appealing your assessment
An appeal must show that the Assessed Value exceeds 50% of the property's true cash value. Useful evidence includes recent comparable sales, corrections to the property record (square footage, finished area, etc.), repair estimates for structural defects, and, where the value warrants it, a professional appraisal. Note that Taxable Value increases each year by the lesser of the Inflation Rate Multiplier or 5%, independent of any change in assessed value.
State forms
Several forms used by the Assessor are state-issued (e.g., 2766 Property Transfer Affidavit, 2602 Request to Rescind Principal Residence Exemption, 5107 Disabled Veterans Exemption). Those forms are posted here in their official PDF format because they cannot be substituted with a local web form.