The mission of the Department of Assessment is to appraise and assess Dearborn properties and perform related assessment administration functions as required by the State of Michigan. The Department of Assessment must continue to strive to maintain fair and equitable assessment practices and perform them in an efficient and professional manner as expected by the citizens of the City of Dearborn.

The Department of Assessment's main function is to place a fair and equitable assessment on every property in the City of Dearborn, then calculate the capped and taxable values. This task of determining an assessment is accomplished by inspecting any new construction to the property, analyzing the market activity through verifications of property sales and observing other factors which affect market value. This is an ongoing function since property assessments are adjusted annually to reflect current market conditions.

Proposal A placed a limit on the value used to compute property taxes. Starting in 1995, property taxes were calculated on Taxable Value. Prior to 1995, taxes were calculated on the state equalized value. State equalized value is the assessed value multiplied by an equalization factor. The City of Dearborn had a 1.00 equalization factor. The state equalized value must be 50% of market value. If it is not, the equalization factor would be increased or decreased to meet the 50% value as required by state law.