MAA President's Message
January/February Message
Thank you for the opportunity to represent and serve our membership as 2022 President of the Michigan Assessors Association. I look forward to the opportunities and challenges the next year will bring. I would also like to thank Stacy Kaake for her leadership and dedication to the MAA over the last ten years. Serving on the MAA Board is a commitment of not only one’s time but is also shows a commitment to help better our industry as whole.
For those of you that don’t know me yet I would like to take this opportunity introduce myself and offer you a little bit of my background. I started my career at the age of 17 where I was a GIS intern for Allegan County. After college, I returned to the Allegan County Equalization Department as a deed clerk/mapper. I spent the next five years at the County and obtained my Level 1 and 2 certifications (now MCAO). In 2007 I started orking for the City of Holland as their Commercial/Industrial appraiser and GIS specialist. During my time at the city, I obtained my MAAO and MMAO certifications. Shortly after receiving my MMAO certification in 2013, I accepted a shared Equalization Director position for Cass and St. Joseph Counties. In 2015 I apparently thought my life was boring, so I also became the Equalization Director for Ionia County which quickly filled up my nights and weekends.
Later in 2015 I left Cass and St. Joseph Counties to become the Director for Berrien County. In 2018 I became the Director for Arenac and Van Buren Counties and found that I no longer had a life outside of work. So in 2019 I left Berrien County and created Assessing Solutions Inc. This has been one of the most rewarding career moves I have made. I now have some time back to spend with my family and a dedicated team behind me to help get all that we do completed with a uality work product and in a timely fashion. Fast forward to today and Assessing Solutions Inc. serves as the Equalization Director for four counties, provides assessing services to three local units, and additional contractual services to another six Counties. In addition to my normal work, I also serve at the Vice President of the Michigan Association of Equalization Directors, Chair one of the MMAO grading panels, and teach numerous classes for the STC and other organizations. Our organization strives to be at the forefront of the industry. This includes providing education for assessors throughout the State and serving as a lobbyist for legislation related to the assessing industry. None of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of our Board and Committee members. If you have ever thought about becoming more involved with the MAA or a local Assessors organization but just have not taken that leap yet, I encourage you to do so. You will not only help your organization, but you will also help yourself as an assessor gain more knowledge of current topics that may affect how you and the industry works.
Best regards,
Tony Meyaard, President