State the formula for calculating the number of mills attributed to a property.

State the formula for calculating the number of mills attributed to a property.

• A. # of mills = budget / (tax base x 1000)
• B. # of mills = budget x tax base / 1000
• C. # of mills = (budget / tax base) x 100
• D. # of mills = (budget / tax base) x 1000

Answer: (D)

Mills are the tax rate expressed as dollars per thousand dollars of assessed value. To find it, you take the amount to raise (the budget) and divide it by the total taxable assessment (the tax base), then multiply by 1000 to convert the result into mills. So the correct approach is Mills = (Budget ÷ Tax Base) × 1000. For example, if the budget is 1,000,000 and the tax base is 2,000,000, the mills would be (1,000,000 ÷ 2,000,000) × 1000 = 0.5 × 1000 = 500 mills. This means the tax rate is 500 mills, i.e., $500 per $1,000 of assessed value (which is equivalent to $0.50 per $1 of assessed value). The other formulations mix in factors incorrectly, yielding a percent or a per-dollar result rather than the per-thousand (mill) rate.

Mills are the tax rate expressed as dollars per thousand dollars of assessed value. To find it, you take the amount to raise (the budget) and divide it by the total taxable assessment (the tax base), then multiply by 1000 to convert the result into mills.

So the correct approach is Mills = (Budget ÷ Tax Base) × 1000.

For example, if the budget is 1,000,000 and the tax base is 2,000,000, the mills would be (1,000,000 ÷ 2,000,000) × 1000 = 0.5 × 1000 = 500 mills. This means the tax rate is 500 mills, i.e., $500 per $1,000 of assessed value (which is equivalent to $0.50 per $1 of assessed value).

The other formulations mix in factors incorrectly, yielding a percent or a per-dollar result rather than the per-thousand (mill) rate.