This is not a tax bill

Got the letter from the township tax assessor's office today. It says "THIS IS NOT A TAX BILL" in big letters, so I guess it's just a friendly update from the friendly people down at the friendly twp. hall. They say the assessed value (which isn't REALLY the assessed value -- there's some formula based on the real assessment) for my property went down 8% this year. Yikes.

Of course, my "taxable value" went up, thus my taxes will, as well. Guess we should be thankful that tax hikes are capped in Michigan, but it does mean that after 5 years, the taxman is still playing catch-up, even in a down market.