The Equalization Department assists the County Board of Commissioners in equalizing real and personal property on a County-wide basis. To comply with State directives, the Department conducts annual sales and appraisal studies for all classes of real property. Audits and record verifications are conducted for personal property. These studies are used to equalize assessed values for each class of real and personal property in the eighteen local units of government within Emmet County. The Department also furnishes assistance to the local assessing officers in the performance of their duties. Some of those duties include the development and maintenance of accurate property descriptions; the discovery, listing and valuation of properties for tax purposes; and the development and use of valuation standards and techniques for the assessment of property.

The Geographic Information System (GIS) was established in 1996. Prior to the establishment of our GIS Department, the County-wide tax mapping was handled by the Equalization Department. In 1987, Emmet County went to a permanent parcel numbering system. Since that time, the GIS Department is charged with the responsibility of assigning permanent parcel numbers, maintaining property descriptions and updating all mapping layers for the 27,000 parcels of real property in Emmet County. The Department assists local assessing officers and taxpayers in the development and maintenance of property descriptions.