Dexter used to be a village in two townships — becoming a city in 2014 simplified the taxes

Here’s a bit of recent history that affects your tax bill in Dexter. For most of its life, Dexter was a village — and in Michigan, a village stays part of the township around it, so villagers pay village taxes on top of township taxes. Dexter had it even more tangled than most: the village was split between two different townships, Scio and Webster, so depending on which side of town you lived on, your “township” half came from one or the other. The village also had to pay those townships for services like elections and property assessments. In November 2014, after a voter-approved charter, Dexter became a city. Becoming a city pulled Dexter out of the townships entirely and joined it into one local government — which ended those township tax bills and the split, and city officials expected it to save residents money over time. The practical upshot for a buyer today: Dexter is a city, so you pay one set of city property taxes, not a village-plus-township stack. As always, check the exact rate for the specific address you’re considering.