Reduction in property values explained
By Bruce Rolfe
The Climax Village Council faced a light agenda at its regular meeting March 17, however the Council and audience received insight on why property values were lower and why a special meeting will be needed March 31.
The Council typically considers the new budget for adoption at the second meeting in March, however Council President Bill Lewis said because he accidently overlooked a routine measure of posting the public budget hearing notice in a newspaper of general circulation at least six days prior to the public hearing, the Council will hold a special meeting March 31 at 6:30 p.m. to consider the 2026-2027 budget.
“We apologize to everybody but it was just a mistake where it didn’t get put out on time. I apologize for that. It just got slipped through while we were working on the budget and we didn’t pay attention to the timing. I should have been better on that. That one’s my fault,” said Lewis.
Drop in Property Values Explained
Climax Village Council President Bill Lewis said after he received communication from a village resident about a concern with a reduction in taxable property value in Climax Township and the Village of Climax and whether the reduction was caused by blight, he reached out to Climax Township Assessor Chad Razmus for an explanation.
In an email response to Lewis Razmus offered a detailed answer.
Razmus said Kalamazoo County provides a sales study for a rolling 24-month period. He said at the 2025 March Board of Review, the study the county created was from 4/1/2022 to 3/31/2024 to establish assessment increases. He adds in 2026 the study was limited for 4/1/2023 to 3/31/2025 to establish the 2026 values.
He said this meant during the flurry of a buying frenzy, multiple homes experienced bidding wars that greatly inflated values. These inflated values, which were on the deeds the county received, were used in this sales study. The sales study would compare actual sales price versus Climax Township and the Village’s assessed value and provide either an increase or decrease of an average needed to levy across the whole taxiing unit(s).
“The county determined that an average increase of 14.73 percent was needed for 2025, but that a decrease of 1.61 percent was needed for 2026,” explained Razmus.
The township assessor adds the sales that contributed to the buying frenzy between 4/1/2022 and 4/1/2023 completely dropped off in the sales study by the county. Those sales were no longer used for the sales study by the county. He said since all assessments were already raised as a result of the buyer bidding war, it was time based on the county study to drop sales. He adds assessed value can go down and taxable value can still go up. Razmus went on to explain until assessed value drops at and below taxable value, the taxable value will then be pushed down and reduce taxes.
Razmus adds unless property is uncapped recently, typically, there is a wide gap between taxable value and assessed value for those who held onto their property 5-30 years.
The township assessor then offered an example for assessment variations.
“This becomes like a tire that has maximum pressure allowed but is still acceptable with a range of slightly less. The county demands the increase or decrease and now I have to let out a little pressure (value) to equalize to 50 percent based on their study. This has nothing to do with blight in the township and has everything to do with less buyer frenzy in the market and less frequent bidding wars on homes,” explained Razmus.
Climax Township Fire Department Report
Climax Township Assistant Fire Chief Sean Perrin said the Township Fire Department experienced one of its lightest months for calls for service in a long time, responding to 14 calls in February. The local fire department responded to three calls for service in the Village of Climax. Perrin said one uptick category was motor vehicle accidents, which accounted for five of the 14 runs. He said the Climax Township Fire Department was called out of the township five times for mutual aid.
The local fire department will begin a one-year agreement April 1 with the Wakeshma Township Board, serving as medical and fire first responders in Wakeshma Township. Perrin said the agreement will likely create an increase in the number of calls for service for the local fire department.
Council Will Allow Resident to Make Payments After Water Mishap
The Council unanimously approved a motion to give a village resident the rest of the calendar year to pay for a large water bill after an issue at the property owner’s home on South Main Street resulted in a large amount of water released for a period of time before a repair was needed.
Village Council President Bill Lewis said Department of Public Works Manager T.J. Gibson informed him the homeowner thought a water valve had been turned off in a home nearby that was not occupied. He said it appears the water shut-off valve was not shut off entirely and he was told a pipe broke as well, resulting in approximately 245,000 gallons of water that was released. Gibson helped the homeowner shut the water flow off before a plumber could fix the problem.
Lewis said the water that was released went into a crawl space at a nearby home where approximately five feet of water was standing.
The approximately 245,000 gallons of water that was recorded by the water meter resulted in a $931 water bill for the quarter. There is also a $25 service charge.
Lewis said the homeowner asked him if the Village would allow payments over a period of time, which the council unanimously approved, giving the homeowner until the end of the calendar year to make the payments.
In other items covered at the March 17 meeting:
Department of Public Works Manager T.J. Gibson said quarterly PFAS samples revealed there was no detection. He adds nitrate and nitrite samples also came back non-detected.
Gibson adds new street signs are being installed in the Village.
Water meters have been read and new water meters have been installed at locations where the old water meters were not working properly.
It was noted the 4-way blinking stop light at the intersection of Main and Maple Street is not functioning properly and will be fixed.
It was also noted there was a request by a resident the Council consider replacing damaged sidewalks between 230 and 250 North Church Street. Council President Bill Lewis said the council will consider the replacement request pending budget funding.
• Finance/Insurance/Administration Chairperson Denise Pyle said the Village will seek a Temporary Service while Treasurer Sydney Cope is not available during maternity leave.
Pyle said there is no money in the budget to hire a deputy treasurer.
• Finance/Insurance/Administration Chairperson Denise Pyle said the Planning Commission has nearly completed a master plan. The commission hopes to have the master plan completed at its next meeting and ready to present to the village council in a month, pending feedback from the village attorney.
• Public Safety/Fire/Law Enforcement/Disaster Planning Chairman Nick Ludwig informed the Council he reviewed video footage and photos of mischievous activity in the village that took place over the March 13-15 weekend. He said head stones in Prairie Home Cemetery were over turned, there was destruction to village road signs, and tire burn out activity at the intersection of Main and Maple Streets. He said the Village is in the process of gathering video footage to present to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department.
Ludwig informed the Council the Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department will lead the Memorial Day parade.
The Climax Village Council faced a light agenda at its regular meeting March 17, however the Council and audience received insight on why property values were lower and why a special meeting will be needed March 31.
The Council typically considers the new budget for adoption at the second meeting in March, however Council President Bill Lewis said because he accidently overlooked a routine measure of posting the public budget hearing notice in a newspaper of general circulation at least six days prior to the public hearing, the Council will hold a special meeting March 31 at 6:30 p.m. to consider the 2026-2027 budget.
“We apologize to everybody but it was just a mistake where it didn’t get put out on time. I apologize for that. It just got slipped through while we were working on the budget and we didn’t pay attention to the timing. I should have been better on that. That one’s my fault,” said Lewis.
Drop in Property Values Explained
Climax Village Council President Bill Lewis said after he received communication from a village resident about a concern with a reduction in taxable property value in Climax Township and the Village of Climax and whether the reduction was caused by blight, he reached out to Climax Township Assessor Chad Razmus for an explanation.
In an email response to Lewis Razmus offered a detailed answer.
Razmus said Kalamazoo County provides a sales study for a rolling 24-month period. He said at the 2025 March Board of Review, the study the county created was from 4/1/2022 to 3/31/2024 to establish assessment increases. He adds in 2026 the study was limited for 4/1/2023 to 3/31/2025 to establish the 2026 values.
He said this meant during the flurry of a buying frenzy, multiple homes experienced bidding wars that greatly inflated values. These inflated values, which were on the deeds the county received, were used in this sales study. The sales study would compare actual sales price versus Climax Township and the Village’s assessed value and provide either an increase or decrease of an average needed to levy across the whole taxiing unit(s).
“The county determined that an average increase of 14.73 percent was needed for 2025, but that a decrease of 1.61 percent was needed for 2026,” explained Razmus.
The township assessor adds the sales that contributed to the buying frenzy between 4/1/2022 and 4/1/2023 completely dropped off in the sales study by the county. Those sales were no longer used for the sales study by the county. He said since all assessments were already raised as a result of the buyer bidding war, it was time based on the county study to drop sales. He adds assessed value can go down and taxable value can still go up. Razmus went on to explain until assessed value drops at and below taxable value, the taxable value will then be pushed down and reduce taxes.
Razmus adds unless property is uncapped recently, typically, there is a wide gap between taxable value and assessed value for those who held onto their property 5-30 years.
The township assessor then offered an example for assessment variations.
“This becomes like a tire that has maximum pressure allowed but is still acceptable with a range of slightly less. The county demands the increase or decrease and now I have to let out a little pressure (value) to equalize to 50 percent based on their study. This has nothing to do with blight in the township and has everything to do with less buyer frenzy in the market and less frequent bidding wars on homes,” explained Razmus.
Climax Township Fire Department Report
Climax Township Assistant Fire Chief Sean Perrin said the Township Fire Department experienced one of its lightest months for calls for service in a long time, responding to 14 calls in February. The local fire department responded to three calls for service in the Village of Climax. Perrin said one uptick category was motor vehicle accidents, which accounted for five of the 14 runs. He said the Climax Township Fire Department was called out of the township five times for mutual aid.
The local fire department will begin a one-year agreement April 1 with the Wakeshma Township Board, serving as medical and fire first responders in Wakeshma Township. Perrin said the agreement will likely create an increase in the number of calls for service for the local fire department.
Council Will Allow Resident to Make Payments After Water Mishap
The Council unanimously approved a motion to give a village resident the rest of the calendar year to pay for a large water bill after an issue at the property owner’s home on South Main Street resulted in a large amount of water released for a period of time before a repair was needed.
Village Council President Bill Lewis said Department of Public Works Manager T.J. Gibson informed him the homeowner thought a water valve had been turned off in a home nearby that was not occupied. He said it appears the water shut-off valve was not shut off entirely and he was told a pipe broke as well, resulting in approximately 245,000 gallons of water that was released. Gibson helped the homeowner shut the water flow off before a plumber could fix the problem.
Lewis said the water that was released went into a crawl space at a nearby home where approximately five feet of water was standing.
The approximately 245,000 gallons of water that was recorded by the water meter resulted in a $931 water bill for the quarter. There is also a $25 service charge.
Lewis said the homeowner asked him if the Village would allow payments over a period of time, which the council unanimously approved, giving the homeowner until the end of the calendar year to make the payments.
In other items covered at the March 17 meeting:
Department of Public Works Manager T.J. Gibson said quarterly PFAS samples revealed there was no detection. He adds nitrate and nitrite samples also came back non-detected.
Gibson adds new street signs are being installed in the Village.
Water meters have been read and new water meters have been installed at locations where the old water meters were not working properly.
It was noted the 4-way blinking stop light at the intersection of Main and Maple Street is not functioning properly and will be fixed.
It was also noted there was a request by a resident the Council consider replacing damaged sidewalks between 230 and 250 North Church Street. Council President Bill Lewis said the council will consider the replacement request pending budget funding.
• Finance/Insurance/Administration Chairperson Denise Pyle said the Village will seek a Temporary Service while Treasurer Sydney Cope is not available during maternity leave.
Pyle said there is no money in the budget to hire a deputy treasurer.
• Finance/Insurance/Administration Chairperson Denise Pyle said the Planning Commission has nearly completed a master plan. The commission hopes to have the master plan completed at its next meeting and ready to present to the village council in a month, pending feedback from the village attorney.
• Public Safety/Fire/Law Enforcement/Disaster Planning Chairman Nick Ludwig informed the Council he reviewed video footage and photos of mischievous activity in the village that took place over the March 13-15 weekend. He said head stones in Prairie Home Cemetery were over turned, there was destruction to village road signs, and tire burn out activity at the intersection of Main and Maple Streets. He said the Village is in the process of gathering video footage to present to the Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department.
Ludwig informed the Council the Kalamazoo County Sheriff Department will lead the Memorial Day parade.
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