IRON MOUNTAIN — Property tax rates in Dickinson County are mostly down in 2021, due to declines in school debt levies and the expiration of an extra-voted millage in the city of Norway where the overall levy will dip by 4.4%.

School debt levies are down in all districts except Norway-Vulcan, where it remains at 4.2 mills, or $4.20 per $1,000 of taxable value.

The debt levy for Iron Mountain Public Schools has dropped to 4 mills, down from 5.1713 mills a year ago, according to the 2021 Apportionment Report released in October by Dickinson County Equalization Director Matthew Baumgartner.

The debt/extra-voted millage in the Breitung Township School District is just 0.8967 mills, down from 1.7 mills in 2020. The North Dickinson School District levy covering Felch, Sagola, West Branch and Breen townships has dipped to 1.8 mills, down from 1.9645 mills.

Iron Mountain has a new millage on tax bills, an additional 0.4513 mills for a school liaison officer approved by city voters in November 2019. Also new is a county-wide levy of 0.0999 mills for a health care benefits counseling program approved by voters in November 2020.

Iron Mountain has the highest tax rate for resident homeowners in the county at 43.8031 mills or $43.80 per $1,000 taxable value. That rate, however, is down by 0.6418 mills from a year ago, a decline of 1.4%.

For a house in Iron Mountain worth $80,000, with a taxable value of $40,000, the total tax bill is $1,752, or about $26 less than in 2020, provided there’s no change in the valuation.

The drop in the city of Norway’s millage comes as a road improvement bond was paid off, cutting tax bills by 1.41 mills. A fire truck levy of 0.4258 mills is also coming off the tax rolls, City Manager Ray Anderson said.

For a house with a taxable value of $40,000, the total 2021 tax bill for a resident homeowner in the city of Norway is $1,604, which is down by $73 from a year ago.

West Branch Township has the lowest tax rate in the county at 22.6221 mills, or $22.62 per $1,000 of taxable value. On a house with a taxable value of $40,000, a West Branch resident pays $904.

Total 2021 tax rates for resident homeowners in each county municipality are:

— Breen Township, 26.5218 mills, down about 0.1 mills, a decline of 0.4%.

— Breitung Township, 23.6676 mills, down about 0.7 mills, a decline of 3%.

— Felch Township, 23.5167 mills, down about 0.2 mills, a decline of 1%.

— Norway Township, 27.0337 mills, up about 0.1 mills, an increase of 0.3%

— Sagola Township, 24.4578 mills, down about 0.1 mills, a decline of 0.3%.

— Waucedah Township, 27.049 mills, up about 0.1 mills, an increase of 0.3%.

— West Branch Township, 22.6221 mills, down about 0.1 mills, a decline of 0.6%.

— City of Iron Mountain, 43.8031 mills, down about 0.6 mills, a decline of 1.4%.

— City of Kingsford, 41.0676 mills, down about 0.9 mills, a decline of 2.1%

— City of Norway, 40.0886 mills, down about 1.8 mills, a decline of 4.4%

Resident homeowners in the annexed portion of Iron Mountain within the Breitung Township School District will pay 40.6998 mills, down about 0.3 mills, a decline of 0.7%.

Taxes for city government break down as follows:

— Iron Mountain is levying 21.2322 mills, an increase of 0.4513 mills, with the increase due to the new levy for a school liaison officer.

— Kingsford will levy 21.6 mills, a decline of 0.137 mills. The decline is due to a dip in the police and fire pension levy, which is now 2.5 mills.

— Norway’s city government levy is 17.3177 mills, a drop of 1.9062 mills. The operating levy is the same but the extra-voted millage has dropped from 2.8297 mills a year ago to 0.9235 mills.

All county-wide levies are nearly the same as a year ago, with some fractional drops brought on by a Headlee Amendment inflation rollback. Those millages are: county operating, 6.1323 mills; state education tax, 6 mills; Dickinson-Iron Intermediate School District, 2.6234 mills; Bay College, 0.9987 mills; library, 0.8988 mills; road commission, 0.4994 mills; health department, 0.4195 mills; senior citizen programs, 0.3995 mills; enhanced 911, 0.3995 mills; and veterans office, 0.0999 mills.

Additional school taxes are levied for properties that do not qualify for Homestead exemptions. The non-Homestead school levies are: North Dickinson, 18 mills; Breitung Township, 18 mills; Norway-Vulcan, 17.8957 mills; and Iron Mountain, 17.937 mills.

In the city of Iron Mountain, properties in the Downtown Development Authority district pay an additional levy of 2 mills.