Dinner Meeting w/Special Speaker

Hello Everyone,

Mark your calendar for the upcoming MMAH Dinner Meeting to be held on Sunday, February 24, 2013. In keeping with the “Humanist” component of our organization, we feature educational programs at our monthly Dinner Meetings that cover a broad range of topics of interest to the membership.

The program for this month will cover the topic of taxes, as the tax season is once again upon us. We are privileged in having an in-house tax expert Eva Cantarella who will be presenting on this topic.

Do you own real estate? Do you think you are paying too much in property taxes? If so, you will want to attend this Dinner Meeting in which Ms. Cantarella who is a lawyer and property tax appeal expert will tell you "Everything You Have Always Wanted to Know About Property Tax Appeals But Were Afraid to Ask."

MMAH is offering this presentation at this February meeting because many of you own real estate, and the 2013 real estate assessment notices are issued between mid-January and early February, depending on the municipality. Therefore, you should receive your assessment notice before the meeting. Please bring it with you so Ms. Cantarella can best address your individual property tax questions and concerns, including any questions you might have about delinquent taxes. Ms. Cantarella will also bring a sample assessment notice in case you forget to bring your own.

Ms. Cantarella’s Credentials:

Prior to going into the law and becoming a property tax appeal attorney, Ms. Cantarella owned and operated Oakland/Macomb Appraisal Services, a real estate appraisal company that performed thousands of appraisals for banks, mortgage companies, and other financial institutions. Since 1995, Ms. Cantarella has handled all commercial property tax appeals for her firm, most of which have resulted in a substantial reduction in the property's taxable value. In conjunction with her commercial tax appeal practice, Ms. Cantarella has also handled a significant number of residential tax appeals for her commercial clients who also own residential property. Therefore, Ms. Cantarella is highly experienced in handling a wide variety of property tax appeals--both commercial and residential.

Here is a small sample of Ms. Cantarella's many commercial tax appeal successes:

· 179,700 SF Showroom / Warehouse in Troy: Taxable value reduced from 3,446,890 to 1,648,125--a 52.19% reduction.

· 147,400 SF Light Manufacturing Facility in New Baltimore: Taxable value reduced from 2,299,600 to 1,326,500--a 42.32% reduction.

· 29,750 SF Office Building in the City of Bloomfield Hills: Taxable value reduced from 1,067,690 to 335,290--a 68.60% reduction.

· 325,000 SF Shopping Mall in Livonia: Taxable value reduced from 8,553,320 to 4,939,320--a 42.25% reduction.

· 72,500 SF Strip Mall in Haring Township: Taxable value reduced from 1,449,400 to 953,800--a 34.19% reduction.

· 27,100 SF Strip Mall in Denton Township: Taxable value reduced from 694,600 to 496,000--a 28.59% reduction.

· 16,000 SF Showroom/Warehouse in Troy: Taxable value reduced from 558,640 to 287,500--a 48.54% reduction.

· 5760 SF Medical Office Condo: Taxable value reduced from 780,600 to 555,500--a 28.84% reduction.

Dinner and Socializing will be from 5:00 PM to 6:15 PM.
Presentation will start at 6:30 PM.

Old Great Wall Restaurant (Private Banquet Room)
4832 W. Saginaw Hwy.
Lansing, Michigan 48917
(517) 327-9500

Click on http://maps.google.co... (http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient-ff&rlz=1B3GGGL_enUS213US214&um=1&ie=UTF-8&cid=0,0,16363651905671349606&fb=1&split=1&gl=us&dq=Great+Wall+Buffet+Restaurant+located+at+4832+W.+Saginaw+Hwy,+Lansing,+MI+48917&daddr=4832+W+Saginaw+Hwy,+Lansing,+MI+48917-2662&geocode=13454439072093076023,42.742060,-84.618483&ei=ZQiHSpSoE4X-Me-bkfsO&sa=X&oi=local_result&ct=directions-to&resnum=1for) interactive map.
(Not to be confused with the World Buffet Restaurant on the same strip mall,
located west of Mall Drive that runs N-S between the 2 restaurants)

Menu Options:
· Buffet $9.65 incl. tax (beverage extra except for hot tea)
· Order individual entrée from the menu

RSVP appreciated by email and/or on our Meetup website http://atheists.meetup.com/453 to provide an approximate headcount.

We anticipate a good turnout for this meeting which will be open to the public.

Jim Hong, Director
Mid-Michigan Atheists and Humanists
American Atheists Affiliate
(517) 750-3887, (517) 914-2278 cell

"An Atheist believes that a hospital should be built instead of a church. An Atheist believes that deed must be done instead of a prayer said. An Atheist strives for involvement in life and not escape into death. He wants disease conquered, poverty vanished, war eliminated."
…….Madalyn Murray O’Hair