The Berrien County Board of Commissioners has authorized all taxing entities around the county to levy the millages they’re requesting for next year.
At a meeting this week, the board heard from Equalization Director Warren Parrish that it must approve all millages each year.
Looking around the county this year, Parrish said there are more than 200 millage rates in 71 taxing authorities. That includes 22 townships, eight cities, nine villages, and 21 school districts, among others. He said there are more Headlee rollbacks this year than last due to property values being high.
“We’re still seeing a lot of property transactions for high dollar amounts, and even though we were experiencing that last year, we had record breaking inflation the year prior and then last year as well,” Parrish said. “Now the inflation rate has mellowed out significantly. Now the inflation rate has mellowed out significantly. So there’s less of a buffer to cause those millage rollbacks.
The highest millage rates in Berrien County are in the city of Benton Harbor, the city of Watervliet, and the city of Buchanan. The lowest can be found in the village of Shoreham, Bainbridge Township, and Berrien Township.
Parrish noted Berrien County back in April surpassed the $10 billion mark in total taxable value.
The board later authorized the millages being sought by the various taxing entities around the county. Parrish said three of them could change as the result of the November 5 election as Galien Township, the city of Niles, and the Berrien Springs Library all have ballot proposals that voters will decide.
