Bloomfield Township's own Township Hall is at 4200 Telegraph Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48302. The township puts it plainly on its Living in Bloomfield page: Bloomfield Township and Bloomfield Hills "are two distinct, separate municipalities." The same page lists ZIP codes 48301, 48302 and 48304 for the township and 48304 for the City of Bloomfield Hills. So a listing that says "Bloomfield Hills" can sit in either one.
The two municipalities' total tax rates sit within about a mill of each other. The differences a buyer pays for are in the taxable value that follows the sale, the season each government sends its own bill, and the separate question each one puts to its voters on Tuesday, November 3.
The Tax Line on the Listing Belongs to the Seller
Start with the part that changes your monthly budget. In Michigan, a property's taxable value can only rise so much each year while one owner holds it. The Michigan Department of Treasury's transfer of ownership guidelines describe the cap and what happens to it after a sale:
"Except for additions and losses to a property, annual increases in the property's taxable value are limited to 1.05 or the inflation rate, whichever is less. In the year following a statutory transfer of ownership, that limitation is eliminated and the property's taxable value is set at 50% of the property's true cash value."
The same document says true cash value is usually not the same as the sale price, and that an assessor may not simply set taxable value at half the selling price. For 2026, the State Tax Commission set the inflation multiplier at 1.027, down from 1.031 in 2025, according to its Bulletin 14 of 2025.
Years of increases capped at a few percent let a long-held home's taxable value drift well below its state equalized value. Here is a hypothetical. A home has an SEV of $600,000 and a capped taxable value of $350,000. At the City's 2025 homestead total of about 36 mills, that $250,000 gap adds roughly $9,000 a year once the value uncaps. None of that shows up in the tax history printed on the listing.
The paperwork starts the clock. According to the State's Property Transfer Affidavit, Form 2766, the new owner must file it with the city or township assessor within 45 days of the transfer. That means the assessor in the right municipality, and the mailing address won't tell you which one that is.
The Rates Sit About a Mill Apart
Once the taxable value resets, it gets multiplied by a millage rate. Here the two municipalities are close. These are the 2025 homestead totals, the latest complete year published by both: the City's 2025 rate sheet and the township's 2025 winter rate table.
| 2025 homestead rate | Summer mills | Winter mills | Total mills |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Bloomfield Hills, Birmingham schools | 31.6189 | 4.3792 | 35.9981 |
| City of Bloomfield Hills, Bloomfield Hills Schools | 29.4119 | 5.9899 | 35.4018 |
| Bloomfield Township, Birmingham schools | 20.6589 | 16.5285 | 37.1874 |
| Bloomfield Township, Bloomfield Hills Schools | 18.4519 | 18.1392 | 36.5911 |
The township's 2025 total is about 1.19 mills higher within either school district. Inside the township, parcels in the Bloomfield Village police and fire special assessment district carry an extra 1.5090 mills, which brought the Birmingham-schools total to 38.6964. On a hypothetical $400,000 taxable value, the 2025 annual bills come to about $14,399 in the City and $14,875 in the township, both in the Birmingham district. That's a gap of about $476. The uncapping example above is close to twenty times larger.
The bigger story in the table is the split between summer and winter.
The Gap Is in the Calendar
Look at where each government collects its own money. The City's 10.6000-mill operating levy appears only in the summer column. Most of a City homeowner's bill arrives in summer, and only a small remainder follows in winter. The township runs the other way. Its October 8, 2026 notice, Important Tax Dates as we Approach 2027, says summer taxes are "primarily all school related." It says the township "collects all its millages during the winter," and that those millages make up about 70% of its annual budget. In 2025, that combined township levy was 12.1493 mills. Public safety alone accounted for 6.3533 of them.
Here is the same hypothetical $400,000 taxable value under the 2025 Birmingham-district rates:
- City of Bloomfield Hills: about $12,648 on the summer bill and about $1,752 on the winter bill.
- Bloomfield Township: about $8,264 on the summer bill and about $6,611 on the winter bill.
The annual totals are close, but each bill is a very different size. That matters at closing, because the bill that is open or coming due when you close carries a different share of the year in each municipality. For the current cycle, the township says 2026 winter bills will be mailed December 1, 2026 and are due by February 16, 2027. A 3% penalty applies after that date, and postmarks are not accepted. A township home closing in late fall or winter puts the larger township bill right in front of the closing table.
November 3 Asks Each Side a Different Question
The calendar difference also shows up on the ballot. Each municipality funds and runs its own services, so each is asking its own voters a different question this year.
In Bloomfield Township, the Public Safety Infrastructure Bond asks voters to approve up to $50 million in unlimited-tax general obligation bonds over a maximum of 20 years. The money would build a new fire station and a new police department building. The ballot language estimates 0.2350 mills in the first year and an average of 0.4380 mills a year. The township says that comes to about $128.96 a year for a home with a taxable value of $294,450, and its page includes a millage calculator to look up a specific address.
The fire project would replace Fire Station No. 3 at 4151 W. Maple Road, near Telegraph. The C&G News report says that station was built in 1960, with an apparatus bay added in 1978. Police now work out of space inside Township Hall on Telegraph. The new headquarters is planned for the parking lot between Township Hall and the 48th District Court. The township's materials say the department needs about 58,800 square feet but has about 17,000 square feet dedicated to police inside a shared 32,000-square-foot building. The materials also say Station No. 3's bays cannot fit some modern apparatus.
Sources disagree on two details. The Detroit News reported that the police building dates to 1938, with additions in 1968 and 1998. The township's announcement says both buildings date to 1960. The township expects construction from 2027 to 2029. The Detroit News reported work could start in 2028 and finish in late 2029 or early 2030. Downtown Publications reported that the $50 million plan from Supervisor Mike McCready moved forward at the August 10 board meeting with one trustee opposed. A separate $60 million alternative did not pass.
In the City of Bloomfield Hills, the question concerns the library. The ClickOnDetroit ballot guide lists a Library Millage Replacement of up to 0.52 mill for six years, starting with the July 2027 levy. It would raise about $440,405 in the first year to fund the City's contract with Baldwin Public Library in Birmingham. The township bond does not apply to City parcels. The City runs its own Public Safety department around the clock, with officers certified as police officers, firefighters and medical first responders, according to its new resident welcome packet.
Both measures were still pending as of this writing. Whichever way they go, the results will become part of next year's tax picture for one side of the mailing address and not the other.
Before Writing an Offer on a Bloomfield Hills Address
- Confirm the municipality and school district from the parcel record, not the ZIP code.
- Compare the seller's taxable value with the SEV to see how far the value could move after it uncaps.
- Note which bill, summer or winter, carries most of the tax in that municipality, and where your closing date falls against it.
- Check whether a Bloomfield Village special assessment applies to township parcels.
- After November 3, look up the outcome of whichever measure applies, and use the township's millage calculator for a specific address.
A Few Distinct Questions
Does a 48304 ZIP code tell me which municipality I'm in? No. The township lists 48304 for both the township and the City.
Are 2026 rates available yet? The township's 2026 winter rates come with the bills mailed December 1, 2026. The 2025 figures above are the latest complete year.
Does a lower SEV always mean a lower bill after purchase? The assessor determines true cash value after a sale the same way as for properties that did not sell, so the result may not equal half the price you paid.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm the figures for a specific property with the assessor, your tax professional or your closing attorney.
If you're weighing two homes with the same Bloomfield Hills address on different sides of the city line, Rob Haber can help you go through the parcel records, taxable values and closing timing before you set your offer. Let's Connect.
