Update on tax treatment of the former Bamborough property

(DO NOT AUTO REPLY)  The following email is from your Board President, Joy Fossel. Please direct any replies to Joy at efossel@grand-rapids.mi.us

Hello Fellow Castle Parkers,

Hope you are all doing well and anticipating spring as April blooms around us.  I am writing to you today to update you on the Laketown Twp Assessor’s decision to allocate the taxable value of the Bamborough property amongst the CP taxable parcels.  You may recall that when the membership voted last August to acquire the property from the Carter Brown Legacy Fund, it was with the understanding that the Township agreed for 2024 as follows:

• The acquisition of the property would not affect the zero value of other Association Common Areas;
• The property would be valued at zero dollars for real estate taxes and there would be no taxes on the property starting in 2024 (2023 taxes were paid by the CBLF);
• If the Assessor decided to add any value to the current Castle Park properties, due to the restrictions placed on the property as Common Area, the amount would be substantially less than an equal share of the current value of the property. This would produce a small increase in property tax per cottage.

All of this may be found in the description of the proposed purchase which was circulated to the membership in advance of the vote, and which is attached for your convenience HERE. The first two bullet points have been fulfilled. It is the third that bears thought. Please note that the then current values related to  the property were listed as follows:

•  $94,400 (then current taxable value);
• $132,000 (then current assessed value);
• $264,000 (then current true cash value.

Earlier this year, the Assessor decided not to reduce the taxable value on the rolls of the township as we had hoped. Instead (according to CPA’s attorney) she divided up the present taxable value of the property ($112,500) amongst the taxable parcels in CP which increased the taxable and assessed value for each by $1350. Our attorney believes that this, in turn, equates to approximately $68 of additional annual tax for non-primary residence parcels, and approximately $43 of additional annual tax for primary residence parcels.  According to our attorney, this is reasonable and probably cannot be successfully contested as the CBLF paid in excess of $500K for the Bamborough property. Further our attorney believes that  there is no way to contest this change collectively in any event, and, instead, each property owner would have to file their own appeal with the Board of Review and then with the Tax Tribunal. The attorney recommends against doing so.

Under the terms of the purchase agreement with the CBLF, among other things:

• Should the Association determine that the final tax resolution is undesirable, the Agreement provides that the Association may return the property to the Fund anytime within 12 months of the execution of the Agreement.

Given these developments, the Association will need to determine whether it considers this tax resolution “undesirable” and, if so, whether it wishes to return the property to the Fund.  Your board wanted to ensure that you were apprised of these developments now to give each of you time to digest the information and raise questions or offer comments. In the meantime, we will be examining the options for  the best and most efficient way to gauge the views of the Association members and offer a chance for all to express their thoughts.

In the meantime, we wish you all a happy  spring as we look forward to our 2024 season.

Joy Fossel,  CPA Board President