Disabled veterans can still wipe out their entire 2026 property tax bill, including taxes already paid. Low-income owners can still get a poverty exemption from the December Board of Review. Some local deadlines come up in November.
By BIG Real Estate | October 31, 2026
Most Michigan homeowners think of the property tax calendar as a single appeal window: the notice arrives in February and the Board of Review meets in March. If you missed that, the year's taxes feel settled.
That isn't true for two groups. Michigan law lets disabled veterans claim a full exemption at any point in the calendar year, and lets low-income homeowners ask the December Board of Review for a poverty exemption. The December board can also fix certain kinds of mistakes on the current and previous year's tax rolls.
The relief can be large. On a typical Oakland County home, a full exemption is worth roughly $5,000 or more a year. But the 2026 deadlines arrive between late November and December 30, and they differ from city to city. Here is what each option covers, who qualifies, and when to act.
The disabled veterans exemption: the whole bill, not a discount
Under MCL 211.7b, a home that a disabled veteran owns and uses as a homestead is exempt from the collection of property taxes under the General Property Tax Act. This is not limited to the school operating mills that the principal residence exemption removes. The same exemption continues for the veteran's surviving spouse for as long as the spouse does not remarry, including on a home the spouse buys later.
The statute defines a "disabled veteran" narrowly. The veteran must be a Michigan resident who was discharged or released under honorable conditions, and must meet one of three tests from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs:
- rated permanently and totally disabled as a result of military service and paid at the 100% rate;
- holds a VA certificate for specially adapted housing assistance; or
- rated individually unemployable.
A veteran with a lower combined rating, such as 70% or 90%, does not qualify under current law. The home must also be titled to the veteran alone or to the veteran and spouse jointly. For a surviving spouse, the title must be in the spouse's name alone.
The deadline is December 30, not March
The application goes to your city or township assessor, not to the Board of Review. Under 7b(2) it must be filed "after January 1 and before December 31" of the year you are claiming. For 2026, that makes Wednesday, December 30 the last possible day. Assessing offices often run short hours around the holidays, so plan on filing well before then. The application form is the State Tax Commission's Form 5107, Affidavit for Disabled Veterans Exemption. Your assessor provides it, and many Michigan municipalities post copies.
Filing late in the year still covers the whole year. Section 7b(3) says that once the exemption is granted, it applies to all of the current year's property taxes. That includes taxes the veteran has already paid. A veteran who qualifies and files in December can therefore have the July 2026 summer bill refunded and the December 2026 bill cancelled. If you bought or sold the home during the year, the exemption is prorated by days of ownership, using your closing documents if you provide them.
You no longer have to reapply every year
Until recently, a veteran had to file again each year. Public Acts 150 and 151 of 2023 changed that. Under MCL 211.7c, an exemption granted for taxes levied on or after January 1, 2025 stays in place without reapplication. It ends when the veteran rescinds it or the assessor denies it.
That convenience comes with obligations:
- You must file a rescission with the assessor within 45 days of moving out or no longer qualifying.
- Each assessing unit must audit these exemptions. A property can't be audited more than once every three years unless the assessor has a reasonable belief it is ineligible.
- If an audit finds a property ineligible, the assessor can deny the exemption for the current year and the three years before it, with interest of 1% a month on the taxes owed.
- A denial can be appealed to the residential and small claims division of the Michigan Tax Tribunal within 35 days of the notice.
Some township web pages around the state still describe annual filing. The statute now says otherwise, but if you have an existing exemption, a call to your assessor confirms it carried forward.
What it is worth in Oakland County
Our illustration uses 2025 county figures. In 2025, the average taxable value of an improved residential parcel in Oakland County was $146,421, according to the county's Equalization Division. Total 2025 millage for a principal residence was 37.9610 mills in Royal Oak (Royal Oak Schools) and 36.0430 mills in Troy (Troy School District), according to the county's apportionment report. At those rates, a full exemption on an average-value home is worth about $5,300 to $5,600 a year. Your figure depends on your own taxable value and your city and school district. Because the exemption removes all taxes collected under the act rather than only school mills, it is far larger than the 18-mill principal residence exemption.
Pending legislation
House Bill 5885, introduced April 23, 2026, would change when an assessor may deny a disabled veteran's exemption. As of October 31 it was in the House Government Operations Committee with no further action, according to the Legislature's bill page. It is a proposal, not law.
The poverty exemption: a December option with local rules
MCL 211.7u lets a homeowner who "by reason of poverty, is unable to contribute toward the public charges" receive a full or partial exemption on a principal residence. The Board of Review grants it, and it can be 100% of taxable value or a 75%, 50% or 25% reduction. The exemption is for one year at a time, so owners apply annually.
The statute sets a minimum, and each city or township sets the actual rules. Household income must be at or below the federal poverty guidelines published the year before. For 2026 claims those are the 2025 HHS guidelines: $15,650 for one person, plus $5,500 for each additional household member. A local unit may adopt higher income limits but not lower ones, and it must also apply an asset test.
You file with the Board of Review, using the State Tax Commission form your assessor provides. You must include the federal and state income tax returns, including property tax credit returns, for everyone living in the home. People who weren't required to file a return can submit an affidavit instead. Under 7u(3), the application must arrive "before the day prior to the last day of the board of review." Cities are allowed to set earlier deadlines, and some do.
Three neighboring cities show how far the rules can differ. All figures come from each city's adopted 2026 policy:
- Madison Heights: income limit $15,650 for 1 person / $21,150 for 2 (100% of federal); cash up to $8,000 and all assets up to $25,000 (home excluded); exemption of 100%, 75%, 50% or 25%; last day to apply for the December board Nov. 30, 2026.
- Oak Park: income limit $23,475 / $31,725 (150%); bank and investment balances no more than projected 2026 taxes plus 50%; 50% exemption; apply by Dec. 7, 2026.
- Ferndale: income limit $31,300 / $42,300 (200%); cash up to $7,500 and all assets up to $15,000; 50% exemption; apply by Dec. 11, 2026.
Sources: City of Madison Heights 2026 Poverty Exemption Policy (Council packet, January 2026); City of Oak Park 2026 Guidelines and Application; City of Ferndale 2026 Poverty Policy Guidelines (adopted Feb. 9, 2026).
A two-person household earning $30,000 would therefore be over the limit in Madison Heights and within it in Oak Park and Ferndale, provided it also passes the asset test. Royal Oak, Troy and other cities publish their own policies. Look for "poverty exemption" on your assessor's web page or call the office before you assume you don't qualify.
The December board can also reach back one year in a narrow case. Under 7u(10), it may grant a poverty exemption for 2025 if no exemption was on the roll for that year and none was denied, as long as you document that you qualified in 2025. Oak Park's instructions describe the same rule.
What else the December Board of Review can fix
The December Board of Review is set by MCL 211.53b. It meets on the Tuesday after the second Monday in December, which this year is Tuesday, December 15, 2026. A city or township may pick another day in that same week. Royal Oak's board meets December 15 at 9 a.m. at City Hall, according to the city's Board of Review page.
Its authority is limited. Besides poverty exemptions and two farm- and forest-related exemptions, it can correct only "qualified errors." These include:
- clerical errors in assessment figures, tax rates or calculations;
- a mutual mistake of fact;
- errors measuring or calculating the property's size or components, such as square footage;
- including or omitting part of the property, such as a garage that doesn't exist;
- errors in the property's taxable status;
- for disabled veterans, a local office's error processing a timely application, or a VA decision on total disability that arrived late.
The assessor must verify the error and the board must approve it. The correction can cover the current year and the year before. Any refund is due within 30 days and is paid without interest.
What the December board cannot do is reconsider whether your assessment is too high. The City of Southfield states it directly: assessed value can only be appealed at the March Board of Review. In 2027, March boards begin the week of March 8. Use that meeting if you think your value is wrong; use December if a fact on your record is wrong.
Who should act, and by when
- Veterans with a 100% permanent and total rating, an individual-unemployability rating, or a specially adapted housing grant, and no exemption yet. File Form 5107 with your assessor well before December 30 to cover all of 2026, including the summer taxes you have already paid. Bring your VA documentation and your deed.
- Surviving spouses of eligible veterans. The exemption continues for you if you haven't remarried, including on a home you bought later.
- Veterans whose VA rating came through late in the year. Ask the assessor whether the December board can correct an earlier year.
- Households with low or fixed incomes. Look up your city's 2026 poverty policy now. Some deadlines fall in November, and the income limits range from the federal guideline to double it.
- Anyone who spots a factual error on the assessment roll. A wrong square footage, a nonexistent finished basement or an incorrect taxable status can go to the December board through the assessor's office.
These rules come from the statutes and local policies cited above, and they are general information, not tax or legal advice. Your assessor applies them to your property. Your assessor's office is the place to confirm deadlines, forms and whether you qualify.
Figures for average taxable value and millage are from the Oakland County Equalization Division's 2025 residential summary and the 2025 Apportionment of Local Tax Rates; the dollar range is our calculation for illustration.