Taxes payments collected by our government from its citizens to pay for public services. A millage is a property levy, or tax for property owners. Millages can be levied on homestead properties which are the properties we live in, or non-homestead properties which include industrial, commercial, and all other property except for primary residences and other property exempted by lawn (an apartment building where the owner doesn’t live is non-homestead for that owner). Property taxes are assessed (determined) by the City of Detroit’s Assessor’s Office within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer. First the value of a home is assessed and based on that value, the amount an owner owes in property taxes is calculated. Your total property value cannot be taxed, only up to 50% of the value is taxable (learn more about this process by contacting the office directly, see the department list on page…)
Detroit Property Tax Assistance
Michigan Property Tax Overview
County Millage Rates – Michigan
Annual Inflation Rate used for Property Tax Assessments
See memos at the bottom of the page.
Explaining ‘Assessed Value’, ‘State Equalized Value’ and ‘Taxable Value’
Example: In 2020, voters approved a renewal of a millage to support the operations of the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). The millage as for .2 mills or $.20 for every $1,000 of taxable value. So, let’s figure out what the impact on property taxes would be for a $40,000 home.
| DIA’s Millage Rate | Actual Amount per $1,000 | Sample Taxable Value(50% of home value) | Millage Amount added to annual property taxes |
| .2 | $.20 | $20,000 | $4.00 |
How does this work? The millage rate is $.10 for every $1,000. It takes 20 “$1,000’s” to make up $20,000. See the chart below for a break out or try this equation:
Taxable value
———————– x Millage rate = Annual Millage Amount Added to property taxes
$1,000
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $.20 | $1,000.00 |
| $4.00Millage Amount added to annual property taxes | $20,000.00Taxable Value |