What Is a Millage Rate? How Mills Become Your Property Tax Bill

A millage rate, or mill rate, is a property tax rate stated in mills. One mill is one-tenth of a cent, so a rate of 1 mill means $1 of tax for every $1,000 of taxable value. That is 0.1 percent. A home with $200,000 of taxable value in an area with a combined rate of 20 mills owes $4,000: $200,000 ÷ 1,000 × 20. The same rate can also be written as $2.00 per $100 or as 2 percent.

The hard part is not the arithmetic. The hard part is knowing which value the mills apply to, how many taxing bodies stack their mills on your parcel, and why a rate that went down can still produce a bigger bill. This guide covers what mills are, how to convert between rate formats, how each state writes its rates, how governments set them, and how rollback and truth-in-millage rules work. For a full line-by-line estimate of your own bill, use our property tax calculation worksheet.

The short answer

• 1 mill = $1 per $1,000 of taxable value = 0.1%. To get the tax, divide taxable value by 1,000 and multiply by the mills.
• Mills apply to taxable value, not to what the home would sell for. In Georgia, for example, mills apply to 40% of market value, minus exemptions. So 30 mills there is not 3% of the home’s price.
• Your rate is several rates added together. The county, city, school district, and special districts each levy their own mills. Added up, they are your total or aggregate millage.
• Rates are set from budgets. A taxing body takes the amount it needs from property tax, divides it by the taxable value in its area, and gets the rate.
• The rollback rate is the break-even rate. It would raise about the same revenue as last year from the same property. Florida, Georgia, Texas, Kansas, and Virginia require public notice or hearings before a government goes above it.
• A lower rate does not guarantee a lower bill. If your taxable value rose faster than the rate fell, or another district raised its rate, you pay more.

What a mill is

A mill is a unit of money: one-thousandth of a dollar, or one-tenth of a cent. The Ohio Department of Taxation’s property tax guide (opens in a new tab) puts it simply: a mill “represents one-tenth of a cent, or $0.001,” so at 20 mills “you would pay $20 for every $1,000 of your property’s taxable value.” The Connecticut Office of Policy and Management (opens in a new tab) gives the formula most mill-rate states use:

Taxable value × mill rate ÷ 1,000 = tax

A few related terms you will see:

• Millage rate, mill rate, and mill levy all mean a rate stated in mills. “Mill levy” is common in Colorado and Kansas. It can mean one district’s rate or the total of every rate on a parcel.
• Ad valorem millage means a tax based on value. It is used to tell value-based taxes apart from flat non-ad valorem charges, such as a stormwater or lighting fee. Those charges are not affected by mills. See our guide to special assessments on tax bills.
• Aggregate, total, or combined millage is the sum of every taxing body’s mills that apply to one parcel.

Converting mills, per-$100 rates, and percentages

States write the same idea four ways: in mills, in dollars per $100, as a percentage, or in dollars per $1,000. They are all the same rate, just with the decimal point in a different place.

Four rules cover every conversion:

• Mills to percent: divide by 10. 25 mills is 2.5%.
• Per $100 to mills: multiply by 10. Fairfax County’s 2026 base real estate rate of $1.12 per $100 is 11.2 mills.
• Per $1,000 to mills: nothing changes. A New York rate of $50 per $1,000 is 50 mills.
• Percent and per $100 use the same number. An Illinois rate of 7.5% is the same as $7.50 per $100.

The most common mistake is treating mills as a percentage. 25 mills is 2.5%, not 25%. The second most common is using a per-$100 rate as if it were per $1,000, which makes the bill ten times too small.

How each state writes its property tax rate

We checked each convention against a state agency, statute, or county office in October 2026. The base the rate applies to matters as much as the unit. Where a state assesses at a fraction of market value, the rate is applied to that fraction, minus exemptions.

Many other states also use mills, including Pennsylvania, where the county, municipality, and school district each set their own. Others use per-$100 rates. Your bill states the unit. If it doesn’t, the county treasurer or tax collector can tell you. For the ratios, caps, and exemptions behind “what it is applied to,” see assessed vs. market vs. taxable value.

Mills apply to taxable value, not market value

A millage rate means nothing until you know the value it applies to. Two homes worth the same $300,000 can face very different bases:

• In Florida, homes start at 100% of just value, but the Save Our Homes cap and exemptions can push taxable value far lower.
• In Georgia, the assessed value is 40% of fair market value, or $120,000, before exemptions.
• In Ohio, taxable value is 35% of appraised value, or $105,000.
• In Kansas, a residence is assessed at 11.5%, or $34,500.

That is why a mill rate can’t be compared across states, and often not even across counties. Kansas levies look large in mills because they apply to a small base. The Kansas Department of Revenue’s own example uses a combined 130 mills on 11.5% of a $200,000 home, which works out to $2,990, or about 1.5% of value. A rate of 130 mills on full market value would be 13% a year.

To compare places fairly, convert the rate to an effective rate on market value. We explain that below.

How a millage rate is set

In most of the country, the dollar amount comes first and the rate is what is left after the division. Each taxing body adopts a budget, subtracts revenue from other sources, and divides what remains by the taxable value in its area.

Rate = property tax levy needed ÷ total taxable value (× 1,000 for mills, × 100 for a per-$100 rate)

The New York Department of Taxation and Finance’s “How the property tax works” (opens in a new tab) uses this example. A town needs a $2,000,000 levy, and its total taxable assessed value is $40,000,000. $2,000,000 ÷ $40,000,000 = 0.05, which is $50 per $1,000 of assessed value. A house with a $15,000 taxable assessment pays $750. The Connecticut OPM (opens in a new tab) describes the same order of steps for its towns. The board of finance or town council works out the budget, deducts state and federal grants and other revenue, and sets the mill rate from the amount left to raise. The budget and mill rate then go to the town’s legislative body, which may be a town meeting where taxpayers vote.

This has a consequence that surprises people. In a levy-driven system, a revaluation that raises every home’s value by 20% does not, by itself, raise the town’s total tax take. The rate falls to collect the same levy. What changes is each owner’s share. Your bill rises if your value rose faster than the average.

Other systems set the rate first, or cap it. California’s general levy is fixed at 1% by Proposition 13. Florida’s constitution caps county, city, and school millage at 10 mills each, not counting voted bond debt and short-term voted levies. Ohio lets local governments levy 10 “inside” mills without a vote. Most levies above that need voter approval. Even there, voter-approved debt rates on top of those limits change from year to year with bond payments.

Overlapping taxing districts and your total millage

Your parcel sits inside several taxing districts at once, and every one of them can levy mills. A typical stack looks like this:

• County general operating mills, sometimes with separate rates for unincorporated areas.
• City, town, village, or township mills, if you are inside one.
• School district mills, often the largest share. In Florida this includes a state-required rate and a local board rate.
• Special districts: fire, library, hospital, water management, community college, transit, parks, or a municipal service taxing unit.
• Voter-approved debt mills for bonds, often listed separately.

Your total or aggregate millage is the sum of the rates that apply to your location. Two houses on opposite sides of a city limit or school boundary can have different totals. That is why counties group parcels into tax districts or tax codes with the same set of rates. In Summit County, Ohio, for example, the fiscal office explains (opens in a new tab) that the first two digits of the parcel number identify the taxing district. Virginia counties layer service-district rates on top of the base rate. Fairfax County’s 2026 rate table (opens in a new tab) lists the $1.12 base rate plus separate per-$100 rates for districts such as stormwater, Reston, Tysons, and McLean Community Center.

When you look up a rate, make sure you have the full stack for your tax district, not just the county’s own rate.

Operating, debt, voted, and unvoted mills

• Operating mills (called maintenance and operations, or M&O, in Texas) pay for day-to-day services. Rollback and voter-approval limits usually focus on these.
• Debt service mills (interest and sinking, or I&S, in Texas) repay bonds. They rise and fall with the payment schedule. Florida’s TRIM notice, under section 200.069 (opens in a new tab), lists them as “Voter Approved Debt Payments.”
• Voted vs. unvoted mills. Some mills need voter approval and others don’t. Ohio is the clearest example: up to 10 inside mills are unvoted, and everything above them is voted outside millage.
• Maximum or charter millage is the most a body may levy under its charter, a vote, or the constitution. The rate actually levied can be lower.

An assessment appeal can lower the value that every mill applies to, but it cannot change the rates themselves. To question a rate, you go to the budget hearings of the body that sets it.

Rollback rates and truth-in-millage notices

Most states with these rules calculate a break-even rate each year. That is the rate that would raise about the same tax revenue as last year from property that was on the roll both years. New construction is usually left out, so growth does not count as a tax increase. If a taxing body wants to levy more than this rate, it has to say so publicly, and in some states it needs a supermajority or a public vote. The names differ by state:

Florida: Truth in Millage (TRIM)

The Florida Department of Revenue (opens in a new tab) explains that the Legislature passed the Truth in Millage Act in 1980 to show taxpayers which government is responsible for each part of their taxes. Under section 200.065, Florida Statutes (opens in a new tab), the property appraiser certifies taxable values to each taxing authority and the rolled-back rate is computed. It is the rate that would raise the same revenue as the prior year. New construction, additions, deletions, boundary changes, and certain other items are left out.

Each August, the property appraiser mails the TRIM notice, formally the Notice of Proposed Property Taxes. It is marked “NOT A BILL.” Under section 200.069 (opens in a new tab) it shows, for each taxing authority, three sets of figures. The first is your taxes last year. The second is your taxes this year if no budget change is adopted, meaning at the rolled-back rate. The third is your taxes under the proposed budget. The notice also lists the date of each authority’s public hearing. The statute’s own wording on the notice is that the difference between columns 2 and 3 “is the tax change proposed by each local taxing authority and is NOT the result of higher assessments.” According to the DOR homeowner’s guide (opens in a new tab), final rates for most taxing authorities are adopted at hearings in September.

2026 change. Senate Bill 4-F took effect June 24, 2026, and first applies to the 2026 tax roll. A DOR bulletin (opens in a new tab) explains what changed for counties, cities, special districts, and municipal service taxing units. The highest rate they may levy by majority vote is now the rolled-back rate itself. The old adjustment for growth in per-capita personal income is gone. A rate up to 110% of the rolled-back rate needs a two-thirds vote of the governing body. A higher rate needs a unanimous vote, a three-fourths vote on boards with nine or more members, or a referendum. School districts follow separate rules. Our Florida homestead guide covers the value side of the notice.

Georgia: the rollback rate and Notice of Property Tax Increase

Georgia defines the rollback rate as last year’s millage rate minus the millage equivalent of the net assessed value added by reassessing existing real property (O.C.G.A. §48-5-32.1). The Department of Revenue’s compliance guide on digest history and tax-increase hearings (opens in a new tab) (revised April 2025) explains the steps. A county, city, or school board that wants a maintenance and operations rate above the rollback rate must advertise a “Notice of Property Tax Increase,” issue a press release, and hold three public hearings before it adopts the rate. Separately, every levying and recommending authority must publish its current digest and a five-year history of values and rates (§48-5-32).

So in Georgia, keeping last year’s millage while reassessments rise counts as a tax increase. What the annual assessment notice shows has changed several times since 2024, so check your county’s notice. Our Georgia appeal and homestead guide covers HB 581’s floating homestead exemption, which limits growth in taxable value instead.

Texas: no-new-revenue and voter-approval rates

The Texas Comptroller’s truth-in-taxation page (opens in a new tab) explains the two rates most taxing units must calculate:

• No-new-revenue tax rate: roughly, last year’s taxes divided by this year’s taxable value of properties that were on the roll both years. It is used for comparison.
• Voter-approval tax rate: the highest rate allowed without an election. For most cities and counties, it allows about last year’s operating revenue plus 3.5%, any unused increment, and enough to pay debt. Special taxing units, such as junior college and hospital districts, get 8%. For school districts, it is the maximum compressed rate plus enrichment, plus the debt rate.

If a unit adopts a rate above its voter-approval rate, it generally must hold an election on the next uniform election date. School districts hold an automatic tax rate ratification election. For small units that calculate a de minimis rate, a rate above the voter-approval rate but below the de minimis rate does not trigger an automatic election, but voters can petition for one. Appraisal districts and taxing units must post proposed rates and budget information through the state’s property tax transparency portal (opens in a new tab). Texas rates are written per $100, so a city rate of $0.4500 is 4.5 mills.

Michigan: Headlee rollbacks

Michigan’s 1978 Headlee Amendment requires a local unit’s millage to be reduced when the taxable value of existing property grows faster than inflation. The reductions build up year after year unless voters approve a Headlee override. The City of Ferndale gives a real example on its Headlee override page (opens in a new tab): as of 2024, the city’s original 20 mills had been rolled back to 11.4144. That is why a Michigan ballot may ask voters to “restore” mills they approved long ago. Separately, Proposal A caps each home’s taxable value, which is what Michigan mills are applied to.

Ohio: HB 920 reduction factors, gross vs. effective mills

Ohio does not roll back rates by vote. It does so by formula. Under House Bill 920 (1976), now Ohio Revised Code §319.301, tax reduction factors shrink most voted levies when existing property values rise, so each levy raises about the same dollars it raised before. That is why Ohio rate tables list both a full voted, or gross, rate and a lower effective rate. The Ohio Department of Taxation (opens in a new tab) notes two exceptions. Inside millage, the 10 unvoted mills, is not reduced. And a school district’s effective rate cannot be reduced below the 20-mill floor. Those two exceptions are why Ohio bills could rise after a reappraisal even without a new levy.

Recent laws narrow those exceptions, as the Muskingum County Auditor’s summary (opens in a new tab) explains. House Bill 186 limits revenue growth for school districts at the 20-mill floor to inflation, through a credit that first appeared on second-half tax year 2025 bills, paid in 2026. House Bill 335 caps growth from inside millage at inflation in reappraisal and update years. HB 186 also raises the owner-occupancy credit and phases down the 10% non-business credit over four years starting in tax year 2026, though farmland keeps it. See our Ohio Board of Revision guide for how these credits appear on a bill.

Kansas and Virginia

Kansas uses a revenue neutral rate. K.S.A. 79-2988 (opens in a new tab) defines it as the rate that would raise the same property tax revenue as the previous year using this year’s total assessed valuation. The county clerk calculates it by June 15. A taxing body that wants to exceed it must tell the clerk by July 20. The clerk mails owners a “Notice of Proposed Property Tax Increase and Public Hearings,” and the body must hold a hearing between August 20 and September 20 and pass a majority roll-call vote. Unlike the Florida and Texas rates, the Kansas rate uses total assessed valuation, including new property.

In Virginia, Va. Code §58.1-3321 (opens in a new tab) applies when a reassessment would raise total real property taxes by 1% or more. The locality must lower its rate so the levy is no more than 101% of the prior year’s. It can keep a higher rate only after advertising and holding a public hearing separate from the budget hearing. New construction is excluded from the calculation.

“Rollback” means different things in different states

Don’t confuse the rate rollbacks above with two other uses of the word. In Ohio, “rollback” often refers to the non-business and owner-occupancy credits printed on the bill. In Iowa, the “rollback” is an assessment limitation: each November the state certifies a percentage of assessed value that is taxable for each property class, as Story County explains (opens in a new tab). Our assessment caps by state guide covers the value caps and levy limits in other states.

Worked examples in three rate systems

All values, exemptions, and rates below are hypothetical. They show the method, not any real county’s rates. For a complete bill, including flat charges, credits, and installments, use the calculation worksheet.

1. Mills on taxable value (Florida-style)

A Florida homestead has a capped assessed value of $300,000. Florida homesteads get a bigger exemption from non-school taxes than from school taxes, so the home has two taxable values. In this example they are $275,000 for school taxes and $250,000 for everything else.

“275 × 5.5” is shorthand for $275,000 ÷ 1,000 × 5.5. Adding up the mills (16.2) gives the aggregate millage. You cannot multiply 16.2 mills by one value here, because the school and non-school taxable values differ.

2. Dollars per $100 (Texas-style)

A Texas homestead is appraised at $400,000. After the $140,000 school homestead exemption, the school taxable value is $260,000. The county and city each offer a 20% local-option homestead exemption, leaving $320,000.

Each line is taxable value ÷ 100 × rate, the formula in the Comptroller’s bill explainer. The combined nominal rate is $1.85 per $100, or 1.85%. Because of the exemptions, the tax is only 1.34% of the $400,000 appraised value.

3. Mills on a fractional assessment (Georgia-style)

A Georgia home has a fair market value of $350,000, so its assessed value is $140,000 (40%). In this example, the county and city exempt $10,000 of assessed value and the school district exempts $2,000.

A 36-mill total sounds like 3.6%, but it applies to 40% of value. Before exemptions, 36 mills × 40% is 14.4 mills, or 1.44% of market value. After exemptions, the bill is about 1.38% of the $350,000 market value. The Georgia Department of Revenue’s own example (opens in a new tab) works the same way: a $100,000 house is assessed at $40,000, and at 25 mills it owes $1,000.

Why your rate went down but your bill went up

This is the most common millage question. As the Florida DOR’s homeowner’s guide (opens in a new tab) puts it, a lower millage rate does not necessarily mean a lower bill. Here are the usual reasons:

• Your taxable value rose more than the rate fell. If value rises 10% and the rate falls 5%, the tax rises about 4.5% (1.10 × 0.95 = 1.045).
• Your value rose faster than your neighbors’. The Washington Department of Revenue’s example (opens in a new tab) shows this. A city raises its levy 1% while total value rises 15%, so it cuts its rate from $1.00 to $0.878261 per $1,000. A home whose value rose 10% pays 3.39% less. A home that rose 20% pays 5.39% more, even though the rate fell for everyone.
• A capped value is catching up. Under Save Our Homes or Michigan’s cap, taxable value keeps rising toward market value even in a flat market.
• Another district raised its rate. The county may have cut mills while the school district, a fire district, or a new bond added more.
• A new voted levy or bond. Debt mills and new levies come on top of operating mills.
• An exemption or credit dropped off. This often happens after a sale, when the new owner did not reapply. See our homestead exemption guide.
• Flat charges grew. Non-ad valorem assessments are not part of the millage at all.

The reverse also happens. A rate held at last year’s level can still be a tax increase under truth-in-taxation rules, because it collects more from rising values. That is exactly what the Florida, Georgia, and Texas notices are designed to show.

Nominal vs. effective tax rate

The nominal rate is the rate the government adopts, applied to taxable or assessed value. The effective rate is the tax as a share of market value. It is the only number that lets you compare places with different assessment ratios, caps, and exemptions.

Effective rate = annual tax ÷ market value

New Jersey publishes both. On the Division of Taxation’s tax rate page (opens in a new tab), the general tax rate is the per-$100 rate used to compute bills. The effective tax rate “enables the comparison of one district to another district,” assuming everything were assessed at 100%, and “is NOT to be used to compute the tax bill.” The gap can be huge in towns that have not revalued in years. In the state’s 2025 general tax rates (opens in a new tab), Union Township in Union County shows a general rate of 23.323 but an effective rate of 2.270. Scotch Plains shows 12.350 general and 2.137 effective. The nominal rates differ by almost 11 points, but the effective rates are close.

Ohio’s “effective” mills are a different idea. They are the voted rate after reduction factors, still applied to the 35% taxable value. For a market-value comparison of every U.S. county, see our analysis of where property taxes are highest and lowest. To compare taxes with what households earn, see property tax burden vs. income.

How to find your millage rate

1. Start with your tax bill. It lists each taxing body, its rate, and the unit (mills, per $100, or percent). Our guide to reading a property tax bill shows where the rates sit.
2. Check this year’s proposed-rate notice. Examples are Florida’s August TRIM notice, the Kansas revenue neutral rate notice, and Texas’s truth-in-taxation notices and online database. These show proposed rates before they are final.
3. Find your tax district. Look on the assessor’s or auditor’s parcel record for the tax district, tax code, or rate area. Then pull the full stack of rates for that district, not just the county rate.
4. Use the county’s rate table. The county treasurer, tax collector, auditor, or clerk usually publishes adopted rates by district each year. Find your county’s official offices in our state directory.
5. Cross-check with the state dataset (table below), especially if you are comparing places or years.
6. Note the tax year. Rates are adopted for one year. A buyer’s estimate that uses an old rate or the seller’s exemptions can be far off. See estimating taxes before you buy.

Where the state doesn’t publish a single table, as in Ohio, Michigan, and Colorado, the county auditor, treasurer, or assessor usually posts rates by taxing district.

Common millage mistakes

• Reading mills as percent, or mixing units. 20 mills is 2%, not 20%, and a per-$100 rate is not a per-$1,000 rate.
• Applying mills to market value in a fractional-assessment state such as Georgia, Ohio, Kansas, Colorado, or Connecticut.
• Using one taxable value for every line when exemptions differ by taxing body.
• Using only the county rate and leaving out the city, school, and special districts.
• Using Ohio gross mills instead of effective mills. On a $105,000 taxable value, 95 gross mills would give $9,975, while 65 effective mills gives $6,825 before credits (hypothetical rates).
• Comparing nominal rates across towns or states. Compare effective rates instead.

If your own calculation still doesn’t match the bill, call the tax collector or treasurer. Ask which taxable value and which rates were used for each line. Questions about why a rate was set where it was go to the body that adopted it, at its budget hearing. Questions about value go to the assessor, through an assessment appeal if needed.

Frequently asked questions

What is a millage rate?

It is a property tax rate stated in mills. One mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value, or 0.1%. Your total millage rate is the sum of the mills levied by every taxing body that covers your parcel.

How do you calculate property tax from a mill rate?

Divide your taxable value by 1,000 and multiply by the mills. For example, $180,000 ÷ 1,000 × 22 mills = $3,960. Do this separately for each taxing body if your exemptions differ by body, then add the results. Our calculation guide walks through a full bill.

How do I convert millage to a percentage?

Divide the mills by 10. 15 mills is 1.5%, and 32.5 mills is 3.25%. To convert a per-$100 rate to mills, multiply by 10. A rate per $1,000 is already in mills.

What is a mill levy?

A mill levy is a tax rate expressed in mills, used especially in Colorado and Kansas. It can mean one district’s rate or the combined rate on a parcel. In Kansas, for example, the assessed value (11.5% of appraised value for a home) is multiplied by the mill levy and divided by 1,000.

What is a rollback rate?

It is the rate that would raise about the same revenue as last year from property already on the roll. Florida calls it the rolled-back rate, Texas the no-new-revenue rate, and Kansas the revenue neutral rate. A government that sets a rate above it usually must advertise a tax increase and hold hearings. In some states, it also needs a supermajority or voter approval.

What is a good or average millage rate?

There is no national benchmark, because mills apply to different bases. The Georgia Department of Revenue says the average county and municipal rate there is about 30 mills, on 40% of value. Washington’s statewide average was $8.96 per $1,000 for taxes due in 2025, on full assessed value. Compare effective rates (tax ÷ market value) instead. See our county comparison.

Who sets the millage rate, and can I appeal it?

Each taxing body’s elected board sets its own rate, such as the county commission, city council, school board, or special district board. Some rates are approved directly by voters. The assessor does not set rates. You can’t appeal a rate the way you appeal a value. You can speak at the budget and rate hearings listed on your truth-in-taxation notice, and vote on levies and bonds.

Why is my millage rate different from my neighbor’s?

You may be in different tax districts: a different city, school district, fire district, or special district. Check the tax district or tax code on each parcel record. If the rates match but the bills differ, the difference is in taxable value or exemptions.