finaltaxappealdoc.pdf

Gordon L Ryskamp Petitioner V Township Of Alpine Respondent · 26-002818-TT

← View full record

Text extracted from the reviewed PDF, organized by page. OCR and reading order may contain errors; confirm details in the PDF below.

STATE OF MICHIGAN

GRETCHEN WHITMER DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS MARLON |. BROWN, DPA

 GOVERNOR LANSING DIRECTOR



 | PROPERTY TAX APPEAL PETITION FORM

 VALUATION / UNCAPPING



 Do not use this form to appeal Classification, Principal Residence Exemption, Qualified Agricultural Exemption, Other

 Exemptions, Special Assessments, or Non-Property tax disputes.



 Pursuant to Tax Tribunal Rule (TTR) 279, you MUST submit a copy of the notice giving rise to the appeal (i.e., Board of

 Review Decision or other notice) with this petition, if applicable. If you do not submit this document, you may be held in

 default.



 Section 1: Petitioner’s Contact Information

 First Name M.1. Last Name/Company Name

 Gordon L Ryskamp

 Mailing Address (No., Street, P.O. Box or Rural Route)

 351 Timber Creek Circle

 City or Town State ZIP Code

 Comstock Park Mi 49321



 Telephone Number 569-338793 1



 Email Address (do not enter unless you want MTT to send all correspondence via email)

 gordonryskamp@gmail.com



 Pras 2. Petitioner’s Attorney/Authorized Representative’s Contact Information

 First Name mr [ Last Name



 Firm Name (if any)



 Mailing Address (No., Street, P.O. Box or Rural Route)



 City or Town | state [ZIP Code

 | |

 | |

 Telephone Number



 Email Address (do not enter unless you want MTT to send all correspondence via email)



 Section 3: Subject Property Information use the multiple parcel form for additional, contiguous parcels.

 How many parcels are you If you are appealing more than one parcel, are they contiguous or adjoining?

 appealing? Yes* No**



 1 **If No, you must file separate appeals for each parcel



 Property Address (No., Street)

 351 Timber Creek Circle

 City or Town County State ZIP Code

 Comstock Park "Kent Mi 49321

 Taxing Authority (City or Township)

 Alpine Township

STATE OF MICHIGAN —

GRETCHEN WHITMER DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS his lc i

 GOVERNOR LANSING



 Section 4: Check which of the following you are appealing (checkail that apply)



 True Cash and Taxable Value



 [0 Taxable Value Only (calculation)



 [J Uncapping of Taxable Value



 Section 5: Explain the Reason for this Appeal

 Please See Attached



 | T—



 Section 6: Jurisdictional Issues



 Did you protest the assessment at a Board of Review (BOR)? Yes [0] No



 If Yes, check which BOR you attended: March [mm] July Od December



 If No, please check the applicable reason(s):



 O Not required to attend

 Appealing a purported Clerical Error or Mutual Mistake of Fact (if yes, include explanation in Section 5)

 O Appealing within 35 days of State Tax Commission Order

 Appealing within 35 days of receipt of Notice of Uncapping

 [J other



 If you checked “other” above, explain:



 Year(s) under appeal: 2026

STATE OF MICHIGAN

GRETCHEN WHITMER DEPARTMENT OF LICENSING AND REGULATORY AFFAIRS MARLON I. BROWN, DPA

 GOVERNOR LANSING DIRECTOR



 Section 7: Valuation Information +use the multiple parcel form for additional, contiguous parcels.

 [ Parcel Number: 4 4 -09-36-455-040



 Classification of Property: Real(J Personal [J (check one)



 Agricultural J Commercial J Industrial J Residential @ Timber-Cutover [J Developmental 0 Utility J (check one)



 Assessed Value (also known as State Equalized Value) established | Taxable Value established by the Board of Review:

 by the Board of Review: 1 70,500 147,900



 What do you believe is the fair market value (also known as true cash value)?

 300,000

 What do you believe is the assessed value? (multiply true cash What do you believe is the taxable value? (cannot exceed

 value by .5) 150 000 assessed value) 120,494 f



 Fee Information

 Does the property have a Principal Residence Exemption of at least 50% as of the date of the filing of this petition for all tax years at

 issue?



 Yves [No



 If you answered yes to the above question, you are not required to pay any filing fees.



 If the property does not have a Principal Residence Exemption of at least 50% as of the date of the filing of this petition for all tax years at

 issue, the filing fee is based on the greater of the State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in dispute. If you are appealing more than one

 parcel, the parcel with the highest State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in dispute will be used to determine your filing fee, plus $25.00

 will be added for each additional parcel being appealed, not to exceed a total filing fee of $1,000.00



 If your property is residential property (see MCL 205.762) and

 the State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in contention is: Filing Fee is:



 $100,000.00 and under $125.00

 $100,000.01 to $500,000.00 $200.00

 $Over $500,000.00 $300.00



 If the property is NOT residential property (see MCL 205.762) and

 the State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in contention is: Filing Fee is:



 $100,000.00 and under $250.00



 * Plus $25.00 for each additional parcel, as indicated above.



 If the property is NOT residential property and the State Equalized Value or Taxable Value in dispute is $100,000.01 or greater the

 appeal does not qualify for Small Claims. Therefore, an Entire Tribunal petition must be filed.



 Signature *Required

 Petitioner or Attorney/Authorized Representative’s-Signature:

 A od 7-27- 2620

 Isl as

Section 5: Why you are appealing



We are appealing the 2026 assessed value and taxable value on our condominium at 351

Timber Creek Circle NW, Comstock Park, Michigan, parcel 41-09-36-455-040, in Alpine .

Township, Kent County. This is our home. We bought it in February 2022 and have lived in it

since.



We protested this assessment to the Alpine Township Board of Review in writing. We were out

of state in March and could not appear in person. The Board received our protest on March 6,

2026, assigned it Petition No. M26-001, voted on it, and denied it on March 10, 2026. That

decision is attached to this petition.



 1. Our taxable value went up more than the law allows.



 Michigan law limits how much our taxable value can go up each year. Under MCL 211.27a(2), it

 can only rise by the inflation rate multiplier, which the State Tax Commission set at 1.027 for

 2026. The one exception is if something was added to the property.



 Our 2025 taxable value was $117,327. Multiply that by 1.027 and you get $120,494. That is

 what our 2026 taxable value should have been. The Township set it at $147,900 instead. The

 difference is $27,406. The only thing that can account for it is additions, because losses only

 move the number down.



 | looked up four other units in Timber Creek and ran the same math on each one:



 TV. hs



 Fey iE Creek Cir propyss ) sires. ! $107,995 $107,995 | $0



 266 Timber Creek Cr $122,998 sieate | st 26318 | $126,318 $0



 3585 Timber Creek Dr 1 s192680 | $136271 | $138,271 $136,271 $0



 nd Timber Creek Dr | $124,235 5127589 $127,589 | $1 27.589 ) | $0



 351 Timber Creek Cir | $117,327 $120494 | $120494 | $147,900 | $27,406

 NW (ours) |



 Every one of those units came out exactly where the formula says it should, and none of them

 had anything added. All four also got a large increase in assessed value for 2026, so the whole

 development was revalued this year. The cap did its job for every one of them. Ours is the only

 one where it did not.

The table also shows that the Township drops the cents instead of rounding up. That is how |

arrived at $120,494 for our unit.



2. Most of what was added should not have been added.



The assessor added value for three things: the finished lower level, the full bath on the lower

level, and the gas fireplace.



The fireplace is ours. We put it in during 2025 and pulled a permit for it. Under MCL

211.34d(1)(b)(iii) that counts as new construction, because it was not there on the previous tax

day. | am not arguing about the fireplace. The Township should add whatever it is actually worth.

But it has never told us what figure it used, and a gas fireplace cannot be worth $27,406 in

taxable value. That would mean about $54,812 in market value. Nobody pays that for a

fireplace.



The finished lower level and the lower level bath are a different matter. We did not do that work.

Both were already there when we bought the condo in February 2022. The finished lower level

was described in the listing before the sale. Prior owners must have done work. The unit was

built in 1997, and our neighbors tell us the lower level and the bath have been finished for many

years, possibly since it was built.



That makes them omitted property, not new construction. MCL 211.34d(1)(b)(i) covers this. It

defines omitted real property as property that already existed but was left off the assessment. It

also says the Township cannot use omitted property to raise taxable value unless it has a

property record card or other documentation showing the property really was left off the

assessment before. The law puts that burden on the Township, not on us.



We ask the Township to produce the property record card for our parcel as it stood before the

2026 roll.



 I do not believe they can, and their own numbers are the reason. For 2025 the Township had

our assessed value at $124,200, which means they thought the condo was worth $248,400. We

paid $259,000 for it in February 2022. Their 2025 number was within about 4% of what we

actually paid, and the finished lower level and the bath were there the whole time. Either their

records already accounted for those features, in which case nothing was omitted and nothing

should be added. Or their records did not account for them, in which case they still had the

condo valued within 4% of the market without them, and those features cannot be worth what

they are now claiming.



There is one more way to check the amount. 296 Timber Creek Circle has two bedrooms and a

full bath on the walkout level, but the rest of the lower level is unfinished and there is no

fireplace. The Township has 296 assessed at $149,300 for 2026, which is $298,600 in market

value. They have us at $170,500, or $341,000. That is a $42,400 difference between a unit that

has the finished lower level and a fireplace and one that does not. But the $27,406 they added

to our taxable value works out to about $54,812 in market value. They added more than the

entire difference they themselves see between the two units. And if our unit is larger above

grade than 296, then part of that $42,400 is size and not finish.

3. The assessed value is higher than the condo is worth.



 The Township has our assessed value at $170,500 for 2026, which means they think the condo

 is worth about $341,000. Sales in our own development do not support that:



 293 Timber Creek Cir | Jun 18, $280,000 3/25 | 2,057 Two fireplaces, finished

 NW 2026 | basement

 3586 Timber Creek Dr | May 2022 | $287,900 3/25 2,041 Finished walkout lower level, gas

 | NW #23 fireplace [i .

 | 3656 Timber Creek Dr | Dec 2022 | $238,750 [2/25 1,954 Finished lower level, fireplace

 | NW i | |



 351 Timber Creek Feb 2022 | $259,000 213 2,200 Finished walkout lower level,

 Cir NW (ours) bath, deck



 The best comparison is 293 Timber Creek Circle. It has three bedrooms, two fireplaces and a

 finished basement, and it sold on June 18, 2026 for $280,000. The Township has that same unit

 assessed at $173,200 for 2026, which comes to $346,400 in market value. It sold for 24% less

 than that a few weeks later.



 3656 and 3586 Timber Creek Drive both already had a finished lower level and a fireplace when

 they sold, and both sold at or below what we paid for our unit.



We believe the true cash value of our condo is no more than $300,000, which puts the assessed

value at $150,000. That is the same figure | gave the Board of Review in March, and the sales

above are the reason | have not changed it.



4. What we are asking for.



We ask the Tribunal to:

(1) Lower our 2026 taxable value to $120,494, plus only whatever the Township can show the

2025 gas fireplace is actually worth.

(2) Lower our 2026 true cash value to $300,000 and our assessed value to $150,000.

Michigan Department of Treasury Reset Form |

 618 (Rev. 12-25)



 Petition to Board of Review L-4035

 This form is issued under the authority of P.A. 206 of 1893, as amended. Filing is voluntary; however, you may not appeal to the Michigan Tax Tribunal unless you first protest

 to the Board of Review, except when the property is classified as commercial real, industrial real, or developmental real. You may not appeal property classification to the State

 Tax Commission unless you first protest to the Board of Review.



 TO BE COMPLETED BY OWNER OR OWNER’S AGENT

 Owner's Name (Please Print or Type) i Petitioner's Name (If Other than Owner. Please Print or Type)

 Corian Zz Tor yess JZ = ye

 Township or City County Year of Appeal

 D7 PIrlE Ken? 202¢

 The undersigned protests the assessed value and/or the tentative taxable value and/or the property classification and/or the qualified

 agricultural property exemption of the following described property:

 Property Identified (Parcel code required. Property address and legal description optional.) E \Y, E D)

 Ye 09. FE - 55-070 REC



 NSH P Protested Item: [X] Assessed Value Tentative [[] Taxable Status [] Classification [| Quaid Aghia

 /~ Taxable Value (exemption) Property Exemption

 1, PROTEST OF ASSESSMENT

 Complete this section for a protest of assessed value, including assessed value changes associated with exempt status and denied or late filed

 personal property forms.

 Assessed Value Owner's Estimate of True Cash Value (Market Value)

 /7¢, sve Foo, coe

 2. PROTEST OF TAXABLE VALUE



 Complete this section for a protest of Taxable Value.



 Reason: OJ Value of Losses Value of Additions O Poverty Exemption O Uncapping %

 3. PROTEST OF CLASSIFICATION

 Complete this section for a request to change the classification. The Board of Review must make their decision regarding classification in accordance with Section 211.34c of the Michigan Compiled Laws. The Board of Review shall not be influenced by the effect that a particular classification has on that property's status as a homeowner's principal residence or qualified agricultural property.)

 Classification of property on this year's assessment roll



 Classification should be (check one of the following):

 [] Agricuttural [7] industrial [] Timber Cutover [7 utility (Personal Property Only)

 Commercial O Residential O Developmental

 4. PROTEST OF EXEMPTION FOR QUALIFIED AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY

 If the assessor has denied or changed the percentage of the exemption from the 18 mills of local school operating tax for qualified agricultural proper- ty, the owner may appeal this action to the March Board of Review. THE BOARD OF REVIEW HAS NO AUTHORITY TO CONSIDER OR ACT UPON THE EXEMPTION FROM THE 18 SCHOOL OPERATING MILLS FOR HOMEOWNER'S PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE PROPERTIES.)

 Percent qualified agricultural exemption granted by assessor (Enter 0 if exemption Percent qualified agricultural exemption requested by owner (Enter 100 if full denied)

 exemption requested)

REASON FOR PROTEST

 State reason(s) for protest of assessed value and/or

 p the tentative taxable value and/or taxable status and/or classification and/or qualified agricultural property exemption 2

 Shere Anse free Vaz i579, coe

 FIA ISHED Lew ZR [ope] was TAere Lor aad Cs” EPaS

 boa Zh we a cddect Ln <p face lis T Swmmers amof JET 27 7 das

 _Arowprt = ASs5es55085 Comms dom sede lare Way be foes F4) coo —CERTIFICATION g ul

Signature Ar a D) 7 7 Date Phone Number

 olen paprd J/ Toko 3/2pd fas- ALGCE -3555 793Address A 7

 5 — 7 y 9 Fr ‘ > ] .

J5/ Jo hen C reek (ore Je - Corrs Yock fir /72/ AGF 7

Form 618, Page 2



 FOR BOARD OF REVIEW USE ONLY

 INSTRUCTIONS: Incorporate a copy of this form and the assigned number in the Board of Review minutes.

 Petition Number Parcel Code

 M26-001 41-09-36-455-040



 1. ASSESSED VALUE

 Disposition by Board of Review. The Board of Review must state the reason for its action below.



 JX vere OJ Assessed Value Changed From: [ 170,500 Jro: [ ]

 a

 Record of Vote- Board or three member committeg.of board ] i

 Chairperson: [yes OO no ps Member: ves [J no Member: he] YEs [J NO

 Initials Ind Is. A} nitials|

 Reason for Board Action:

 The Board reviewed comparable sales and properties and determined the assessment is accurate and equitable.



 If you disagree with the decision of the Board of Review regarding tentative assessed value, you may appeal that decision by filing a petition with the Michigan Tax Tribunal at

 PO Box 30232, Lansing MI 48909. Commercial Real, Industrial Real, Developmental Real, Commercial Personal, Industrial Personal and Utility Personal Property may be

 appealed by May 31. Agricultural Real, Residential Real, Timber - Cut Over Real, and Agricultural Personal Property may be appealed by July 31. The petition must be filed on

 a Michigan Tax Tribunal form or a form approved by the Michigan Tax Tribunal. Michigan Tax Tribunal forms are available at www.michigan.gov/taxtrib.



 2. TENTATIVE TAXABLE VALUE

 Disposition by Board of Review. The Board of Review must state the reason for its action below.

 Denied [J Tentative Taxable Value Changed From: 147.900 To:

 (See attached L-4035A)

 Record of Vote - Board or three member committee of board.

 / /

 Chairperson: Dg ves O no Member: x YES [] No Member: YES NO/

 Ifitials B a nitials

 Reason for Board Actjon:

 ame as above.



 If you disagree with the decision of the Board of Review regarding tentative taxable value, you may appeal that decision by filing a petition with the Michigan Tax Tribunal at 0 Box 30232, Lansing MI 48909. Commercial Real, Industrial Real, Developmental Real, Commercial Personal, Industrial Personal and Utility Personal Property may be appealed by May 31. Agricultural Real, Residential Real, Timber - Cut Over Real, and Agricultural Personal Property may be appealed by July 31. The petition must be filed on a Michigan Tax Tribunal form or a form approved by the Michigan Tax Tribunal. Michigan Tax Tribunal forms are available at www. michigan.gov/taxtrib.

 3. CLASSIFICATION 3 ol aR IL A

 Disposition by Board"of Review. The Board of Review must state the reason for its action below.



 O Denied O Classification Changed From: 407 To:

 Record of Vote - Board or three member committee of board.

 Chairperson: [J] YES [J No Member: [J Yes [J No Member: [J] ves [J] No_____ Initials Initials Initials

 Reason for Board Action:



 It you greagrea with ine neon of the Boarn nf Review regaraing classification, voir may uppeai Dy sening FOI 2167 101m Stam Tea Conminmmun, Fvs Soa 3071 ANSIMI 30. by June 48909

 4. QUALIFIED AGRICULTURAL PROPERTY EXEMPTION eis 4 a - “i rape

 Disposition by Board of Review. The Board of Review must state the reason for its action below.

 O Exemption Request Denied OJ Exemption percent modified from % To: %

 Record of Vote - Board or three member committee of board.

 Chairperson: [Jyes [J NO ____ Member [J] Yes [J No Member: [J] YEs [J] no

 Initials Initials Initials

Reason for Board Action:



! you disagree with the decision of the Board of Review regarding qualified agricultural property exemption, you may appeal that decision by filing a petition with the Michigan Tax Tribunal at PO Box 30232, Lansing MI 48909 by July 31. The petition must be filed on a Michigan Tax Tribunal form or a form approved by the Michigan Tax Tribunal. Michigan Tax Tribunal forms are available at‘ww.michioan gov/taxtrip

 5. ADJOURNMENT

 3 ; p Ph Seta tio

 Date of Final Adjournment of Board of Review MAR 1 2 7076



 er)

 Board of Review Secretary Signature

 / / TT Date SJ ya 3] 2026

← View full record