It appears St. Joseph County in 2020 will levy the same millage rates as it did last year.
Equalization director Josh Simmons told commissioners during their executive committee meeting Wednesday that the county’s total millage rate of 7.8782 mills for 2020 remains unchanged from 2019.
Simmons said commissioners will need to approve the millage rates during their board meeting Tuesday next week in order to collect tax dollars to support operations.
The county funds its day-to-day operations with an allocated operating millage of 4.5482 mills. Additional millage rates help support those individual departments or agencies.
The breakdown of those additional millage rates are: 1.0 mill for Central Dispatch/E-911; three-quarters of a mill for Commission On Aging; one-third of a mill for the St. Joseph County Transportation Authority; 1.0 mill for the St. Joseph County Road Commission; and one-quarter of a mill for the St. Joseph County Parks and Recreation Department.
Simmons said St. Joseph County has the 23rd-lowest operating millage among Michigan’s 83 counties.