Board of Equalization and Review

Every township and city in Michigan has a Board of Review to hear appeals from property owners who believe that their property has been inaccurately assessed and to make appropriate corrections to the assessment or tax roll, or to correct errors from current or previous years, depending on the month in which the meeting is held. In Escanaba, the Board of Review includes the Mayor and four other members - two/thirds (2/3) must be property owners, electors of the City; one member may be a renter who is a registered voter in the City. Board Members have indefinite terms and are reappointed every two years.

The March Board of Review meets on the 1st Tuesday following the 1st Monday in March each year at City Hall. Beginning the following week, the Board meets with the public at City Hall for at least 2 meetings of 6 hours each. This board of review may consider only current year valuations and has no authority to correct homesteads or errors from previous years. At this meeting hardship exemptions may also be considered.

The July and December boards of review meet to correct homestead status, mutual mistakes and other specific errors and to consider hardship exemptions for the current year. By statute, the July meeting is on the Tuesday after the third Monday in July; the December meeting is on the Tuesday after the second Monday in December. These boards can correct certain errors in the current year and in previous years. Check the City of Escanaba’s calendar to see the exact dates of Board of Review meetings.