Property taxes in Barry County, Michigan are calculated by multiplying your property’s taxable value by the combined millage rate for every jurisdiction that overlaps your parcel, with bills issued twice a year: a summer bill due September 14 and a winter bill due February 14. Total rates run from about 21 to 40 mills for homes with a Principal Residence Exemption and from about 39 to nearly 58 mills for non-homestead properties, depending mostly on your school district.1Michigan Department of Treasury. Total Property Tax Rates in Michigan 2025 Several exemptions and a state income tax credit can meaningfully reduce what you actually owe.
How Your Bill Is Calculated
Three numbers appear on your assessment notice, but only one of them drives your bill. The assessed value is 50 percent of what your local assessor estimates the property would sell for.2Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 211.27a – Property Tax Assessment The State Equalized Value is that figure after county and state review for uniformity. The taxable value is the one that gets multiplied by your millage rate.
Taxable value is capped. It can rise each year only by the lesser of 5 percent or the rate of inflation, plus the value of any new construction. That cap can leave long-time owners with a taxable value well below their SEV. It also uncaps when the property changes hands, resetting to the current SEV in the year after a sale.2Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 211.27a – Property Tax Assessment If you’re buying, look at the gap between taxable value and SEV on the listing. The seller’s tax bill is not the one you’ll inherit.
The millage math itself is simple. One mill equals $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value. A home with a $120,000 taxable value in an area with a 30-mill rate owes $3,600 for the year.
Millage Rates Across Barry County
There is no single Barry County tax rate. Your total millage stacks the county, township, school district, library, and any voter-approved special millages that apply to your parcel. The 2025 Michigan Department of Treasury rate report puts the Barry County range at roughly 21 to 40 mills for homestead properties and 39 to nearly 58 mills for non-homestead properties.1Michigan Department of Treasury. Total Property Tax Rates in Michigan 2025 The school district you fall within is the largest single variable from one parcel to the next. The exact breakdown for your address appears on your tax statement and in the county’s online records.
Payment Deadlines and Late Penalties
Barry County taxes come in two cycles. Summer bills are issued July 1 and due by September 14.3Hastings Charter Township. Hastings Charter Township Treasurer Miss that date and your township treasurer adds 1 percent interest immediately, with another 1 percent on the first of each following month.4Johnstown, Township (Barry, MI). Johnstown Township Treasurer Information
Winter bills go out December 1 and are due by February 14.3Hastings Charter Township. Hastings Charter Township Treasurer Payments made between February 15 and the end of February may carry a property tax administration fee of up to 1 percent plus a late penalty of 3 percent, depending on what the local governing body has authorized.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.44 – Collection of Taxes After the last day of February your township can no longer accept the money. Anything still unpaid becomes delinquent and transfers to the Barry County Treasurer on March 1.
Where to Pay and How to Look Up Records
Current summer and winter taxes go to your township treasurer. Most townships accept checks or money orders by mail, with in-person drop-off during business hours. The Barry County Collector website offers online payment, with a processing fee on credit card transactions.6Barry County Collector. Barry County Online Payment Keep the confirmation or receipt. Once an account goes delinquent after the last day of February, payment goes to the Barry County Treasurer at the courthouse in Hastings.3Hastings Charter Township. Hastings Charter Township Treasurer
Barry County publishes property tax records through the BS&A Online portal. You can search by address, owner name, or parcel number to pull up the current assessment, taxable value, payment history, and any delinquent balance.7BS&A Online. Barry County Tax Records A separate delinquent tax search tool is available on the same site. If the mailing address, legal description, or ownership on file is wrong, contact your local assessor to correct it before the next billing cycle.
The Principal Residence Exemption
The biggest tax break available to most Barry County homeowners is the Principal Residence Exemption. If you own and occupy a home as your primary residence, filing the PRE removes up to 18 mills of local school operating taxes from your bill.8Michigan Department of Treasury. Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) Affidavit – Form 2368 On a home with a $100,000 taxable value, that is up to $1,800 a year. The gap between homestead and non-homestead rates in the county reflects this exemption.
File Form 2368 with your city or township assessor. The deadline is June 1 to apply the exemption to the summer tax levy, or November 1 to apply it to the winter levy.9Michigan Department of Treasury. Claim Requirement – Principal Residence Exemption You file once; the exemption carries forward until you move, sell, or begin renting the property out. The affidavit asks for your ownership percentage, the date you moved in, and a declaration that you haven’t claimed a similar exemption in another state.10Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 211.7cc – Principal Residence Exemption Claiming a comparable exemption elsewhere carries a $500 penalty.
Other Exemptions Worth Checking
Qualified Agricultural Property
Farmland classified as agricultural on the assessment roll, or parcels where more than half the acreage is devoted to farming, is exempt from the same 18 mills of school operating tax that the PRE covers.11Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7ee – Qualified Agricultural Property Exemption Already-classified parcels get it automatically. For land used primarily for agriculture but classified otherwise, file an affidavit with your local assessor.12Michigan Department of Treasury. State Tax Commission Qualified Agricultural Property Exemption Guidelines
Disabled Veteran Exemption
A veteran rated 100 percent permanently and totally disabled by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, discharged under honorable conditions, is exempt from all property tax on a home they own and occupy.13Michigan Legislature. Michigan Code 211.7b – Exemption for Disabled Veteran Homestead A general discharge under honorable conditions also qualifies; an other-than-honorable or dishonorable discharge does not. The exemption can pass to a surviving spouse who continues to occupy the home. Apply through your local assessor.
Poverty Exemption
Homeowners who occupy the property and fall below income and asset thresholds set by their local township or city can qualify for a full or partial exemption from property taxes. The local governing body publishes specific dollar limits, which must meet or exceed federal poverty guidelines.14Michigan Legislature. MCL Section 211.7u – Principal Residence of Persons in Poverty This exemption requires annual application through the local Board of Review, so align your request with the March or July meeting.15Michigan Department of Treasury. Michigan State Tax Commission – MCL 211.7u Poverty Exemption
Small Business Personal Property
A business with commercial or industrial personal property (equipment, furniture, fixtures) valued at less than $80,000 in true cash value within a single local tax collecting unit can claim a complete personal property tax exemption under MCL 211.9o.16Michigan Department of Treasury. Personal Property Tax Exemptions File Form 5076 with the local assessor by February 20 each year. Miss the deadline and you pay personal property tax that year on equipment that could have been exempt.
Income-Based Relief
Homestead Property Tax Credit
Separate from the PRE, Michigan offers an income tax credit that reimburses a portion of the property taxes you’ve paid, claimed on Form MI-1040CR with your state return. For the 2026 tax year, total household resources must be $71,500 or less and the home’s taxable value must be $165,400 or less, with an exception for unoccupied farmland.17Michigan Department of Treasury. Michigan Taxpayers Encouraged to Check Eligibility for Homestead Property Tax Credit You must have been a Michigan resident for at least six months during the year. The credit scales with the ratio of your property taxes to your total household resources, so lower incomes paired with higher tax burdens produce larger refunds. Renters can also claim it, since a percentage of rent counts as property tax for this calculation.
Summer Tax Deferment
Michigan lets certain homeowners defer summer property taxes until February, when the winter bill is due. You must be at least 62 years old and own and occupy the home. The option also extends to paraplegics, eligible veterans and their surviving spouses, blind residents, and permanently disabled homeowners with annual household income under $40,000. File the deferment form with your local treasurer before September 15. The deferment does not reduce the taxes owed. It avoids the 1 percent monthly interest during the fall months.
If You Think Your Assessment Is Wrong
Local Board of Review
Your first step is the local Board of Review. Under Michigan law, the Board meets during the week of the second Monday in March for at least 12 hours total, including at least 3 hours of evening sessions.18Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 211.30 – Board of Review You can appear in person or submit a written protest. Either way, include your parcel number, the value you believe is correct, and your supporting evidence.
The strongest evidence is recent comparable sales of similar properties nearby. Photographs of condition problems, a professional appraisal, or documentation of factual errors on the property record card (wrong square footage, incorrect bathroom count, a garage that isn’t there) also carry weight. You carry the burden of proof. The Board must notify you of its decision in writing by the first Monday in June, and that notice will include your final SEV and information about appealing further.18Michigan Legislature. MCL – Section 211.30 – Board of Review
Michigan Tax Tribunal
If the Board of Review doesn’t resolve the dispute, the next step is the Michigan Tax Tribunal. Most residential appeals go through the Tribunal’s Small Claims Division, where hearings are typically 30 minutes by phone and less formal than a courtroom.19Michigan Tax Tribunal. Small Claims – Michigan Tax Tribunal You must have protested at the Board of Review first to preserve your right to appeal. Filing deadlines are strict, so check the Tribunal’s website as soon as the Board of Review decision arrives.
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
Once the Barry County Treasurer takes over a delinquent account on March 1, interest continues to accrue and all payments must go to the county rather than your township.4Johnstown, Township (Barry, MI). Johnstown Township Treasurer Information From there, Michigan’s foreclosure timeline runs on fixed dates:
- Forfeiture (March 1, two years after the original tax year): the property forfeits to the county treasurer.
- Show-cause hearing (December through January that same year): the foreclosing unit sends certified notice at least 30 days before an administrative hearing where you can show why the property should not be foreclosed.
- Foreclosure judgment (by March 30, three years after the original tax year): a circuit court enters a judgment of foreclosure.
- Last day to redeem (March 31): title transfers to the foreclosing unit. To redeem before that date you must pay all delinquent taxes plus non-compounding interest of 0.5 percent per month running from the March 1 before forfeiture, along with recording fees and service costs.20Michigan Department of Treasury. Real Property Tax Foreclosure Timeline
If a foreclosed property later sells for more than the taxes owed, the U.S. Supreme Court held in Tyler v. Hennepin County (2023) that the government cannot keep the surplus and must return it to the former owner under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment.21Supreme Court of the United States. Tyler v. Hennepin County, 598 U.S. ___ (2023) Anyone facing tax foreclosure in Barry County has a constitutional right to any equity above the debt.