Dearborn Public Schools’ homeowners will see another slight reduction in their school tax millage rates this summer.
Homeowners in the district will pay a total of 3.41 mills in district millage on their 2025 tax bills. That is down from 3.745 mills last year and one-third of the rate in 2019, which was 10.99 mills. For more details, please see the 2025 tax graphic.
In 2024, voters renewed the district’s operating millage at a maximum of 4 mills, but the district is collecting only 2.18 mills this round. The district is allowed to collect $313 per student in the operating millage, so the exact tax rate varies each year based on enrollment and property values.
For commercial properties, the total district millage rate this year will be 19.22 mills, down very slightly from 19.35 last year.
A mill is $1 of tax for every $1,000 of assessed value.
The Board of Education on June 23, 2025 approved a $452 million preliminary budget for the 2025-26 school year.
The district is required to have a budget in place before the fiscal year starts on July 1, although Michigan legislators have not yet approved the state education budget for next year. About 75 percent of the district’s $287 million general fund budget comes from the state. Most of that is from per pupil funding, but Dearborn Schools also receives many millions in state dollars from what are called categorical funds for items such as the number of students who are English Language Learners or from low-income families.
The adopted budget is based on getting an additional $392 per student from the state. Based on this year’s enrollment, the estimated number of students crept up by almost 140 to 19,347.
Next year’s budget is down from the $478 million revised budget for the current year.
With the end of the ESSER funding, the district was forced to slash how much it sets aside for building maintenance and improvements each year. That figure dropped from $9.5 million for the current fiscal year down to $4.5 million next year. Administrators are working on a bond proposal, likely for a 2026 ballot, to address dire building needs in the schools.
The new tentative budget also shows total staffing costs climbing 4 percent. How much costs actually increase will depend some on state funding. For many district staff, any pay increases are tied to how much the district’s state funding changes.
The district is eliminating the equivalent of about 36 full-time positions next year, but only two layoffs were approved. Most of the staffing reduction will come from shifting employees into positions left open by those who are retiring or leaving the district. The district continues to recruit for several open job postings.
For perspective, Dearborn Public Schools has about 2,700 staff, more than half of whom are classified as teachers.
2025 district tax rates for homeowners
