Rochester Hills MI Property Tax: Millage, Exemptions, and Payments

Property tax rates in Rochester Hills, Michigan run between roughly 30.86 and 53.99 mills for 2025, depending on which school district your parcel sits in and whether the home is your primary residence. Homeowners in the Rochester Community Schools district pay about 30.86 mills with a homestead exemption; those in the Avondale School District pay about 35.99 mills. Non-homestead properties, including rentals, second homes, and commercial parcels, pay roughly 18 mills more because they don’t qualify for the school operating tax exemption.¹

2025 Total Millage Rates by School District

Rochester Hills spans two school districts, and that’s the biggest reason two neighbors can pay noticeably different tax rates on similar homes. The 2025 combined rates, adding up every taxing jurisdiction that appears on the bill, are:¹

Rochester Community Schools: 30.8553 mills homestead, 48.8553 mills non-homestead
Avondale School District: 35.9928 mills homestead, 53.9928 mills non-homestead

A mill is one dollar of tax per $1,000 of taxable value. On a home with a taxable value of $200,000 in the Rochester Community Schools district, a homestead owner would owe about $6,171 a year (200 × 30.8553). Strip the homestead exemption and the same property owes roughly $9,771. Rates shift slightly each year with voter-approved millages, Headlee rollbacks, and jurisdictional budget changes, but the roughly 18-mill homestead-vs-non-homestead gap is structural.

What the City of Rochester Hills Itself Levies

The city’s own portion of the bill was 10.8473 mills for the 2024 tax year, spread across separate funds:²

City General Fund: 2.6872 mills
Fire Fund: 2.7000 mills
Special Police: 2.4180 mills
Local Streets: 1.0625 mills
Library operating (combined): 1.1210 mills
Older Persons’ Commission: 0.3127 mills
Rochester-Avon Recreation Authority: 0.1818 mills
Pathway Maintenance: 0.1731 mills
Park Facility: 0.1635 mills
Drain Debt: 0.0275 mills

Police and fire together account for most of what the city levies. Several of these are voter-approved with set expiration dates, which is why individual millages appear on local ballots for renewal.

The Other Jurisdictions on Your Tax Bill

The city’s 10.85 mills is only part of the total. Your bill also carries levies from Oakland County, your school district (Rochester Community Schools or Avondale) for debt, sinking fund, and enhancement millages, and smaller amounts from Oakland Community College, the Huron-Clinton Metroparks, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and other regional authorities.³ Each appears as a separate line item on your summer and winter statements.⁴

Some parcels also carry special assessments for localized improvements like road maintenance, streetlighting, or drain projects. A special assessment applies only to parcels that directly benefit and can be adjusted annually by the governing board to reflect actual costs.

How Taxable Value Turns the Rate Into a Dollar Amount

Your bill depends on two numbers: the total millage rate and your taxable value. The county assesses every property at 50 percent of estimated market value to produce the State Equalized Value, but your bill is calculated from taxable value, which for most long-term owners is lower than the SEV.⁵

Under Michigan’s Proposal A system, codified at MCL 211.27a, your taxable value can rise each year by no more than 5 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less, plus the value of new additions such as a garage or finished basement. If your home’s market value jumps 15 percent in a hot year, your taxable value still moves up only by the capped amount. Over years that creates a widening gap between market value and taxable value, and long-term Rochester Hills owners often have taxable values well below half of what their homes would sell for.⁵

Uncapping After a Sale

The cap disappears when the property changes hands. In the year after a sale, taxable value resets to match the current SEV. For a buyer, that “uncapping” is the biggest tax surprise: if the seller held the home for 15 years, the taxable value may lag the SEV by tens of thousands of dollars, and the new owner inherits the full current assessment.⁵ So the effective rate you’ll pay after buying is not what the prior owner was paying; it’s the current millage applied to a taxable value that has just jumped.

Not every transfer resets the value. Transferring residential property to a qualified relative, defined as a spouse, parent, child, sibling, grandparent, or grandchild, preserves the existing taxable value as long as the property remains a residence. Transfers to nieces, nephews, cousins, or in-laws do trigger uncapping. Revocable trusts and Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deeds can also preserve the capped value when structured with qualified-relative beneficiaries.

The Principal Residence Exemption

The Principal Residence Exemption is the difference between roughly 31 mills and roughly 49 mills in the Rochester Community Schools district, and between 36 and 54 mills in Avondale. Owners who occupy the home as a primary residence are exempt from the local school district’s operating millage, worth about 18 mills. You claim it by filing an affidavit with the local assessor by June 1 for the upcoming summer levy or November 1 for the winter levy.⁶

Your February assessment notice lists a PRE percentage of either 0 or 100. If it shows 0 and you live in the home, you’re paying the non-homestead rate and losing thousands of dollars a year until you file. Once granted, the exemption stays in place until you sell or move out. Claiming the PRE on a property that doesn’t qualify triggers back taxes, interest at 1.25 percent per month, and a $500 penalty.⁷

Programs That Can Reduce What You Owe

Disabled Veteran Exemption

Michigan fully exempts the homestead of a qualifying disabled veteran from property taxes. The veteran must have received an honorable discharge and meet one of these standards: a 100 percent disability rating from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a certificate for specially adapted housing assistance, or a determination of individual unemployability. An unremarried surviving spouse retains the exemption. Applications go to the city’s Assessing Department on Form 5107 with VA documentation. Starting in 2026, previously granted exemptions renew automatically instead of requiring an annual filing.

Michigan Homestead Property Tax Credit

Homeowners and renters with total household resources of $71,500 or less may claim a state income tax credit of up to $1,900 using Form MI-1040CR. The property’s taxable value must be $165,400 or less, and the credit is based on the amount by which property taxes (or 20 percent of rent) exceed 3.5 percent of household income.⁸ Because it’s claimed on the state return rather than through the city, many eligible households miss it.

Summer Tax Deferment for Seniors

Owners 62 or older with prior-year household income under $40,000 can defer the summer tax payment to the winter due date without penalty. The deferment form is filed with the Rochester Hills Treasurer by September 15 each year. It doesn’t reduce the tax; it shifts the deadline so the summer bill can be paid alongside the winter bill in mid-February.

Payment Schedule and Late Penalties

Rochester Hills bills taxes twice a year. For 2026:⁹

Summer bills mail July 1 and are due September 14, 2026, without interest or penalty.
Winter bills mail December 1 and are due February 16, 2027, without penalty.

Postmarks are not honored; payment has to be received or submitted by the due date. E-checks and recurring bank drafts through the online portal are free. Credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay, and Google Pay carry a 2.75 percent processing fee with a $1.50 minimum.⁹

Miss the summer deadline and 1 percent interest is added September 15, with another 1 percent on the first of each following month, plus a 3 percent penalty the next February. The winter bill picks up a 3 percent penalty the day after its due date.⁹ Any taxes still unpaid by March 1 of the following year are returned as delinquent to the Oakland County Treasurer, which adds a 4 percent administration fee and continues charging 1 percent monthly interest from the original delinquency date.¹⁰

1
Michigan Department of Treasury. Total Property Tax Rates in Michigan 2025
2
City of Rochester Hills. 2024 City Millages
3
City of Rochester Hills. City of Rochester Hills Property Tax Bills Entities and Fiscal Periods 2025
4
City of Rochester Hills. What Happens To My Taxable Value After I Purchase My Home
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.27a
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Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7cc
7
Michigan Department of Treasury. Principal Residence Exemption PRE Denial Interest Summary
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Michigan Department of Treasury. 2025 Michigan Homestead Property Tax Credit Claim MI-1040CR
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City of Rochester Hills. Property Tax Information
10
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.78a