Michigan Porch

Kalamazoo County, Michigan

Use this county page to find the right government office or narrow down to a city or township. The service directory covers common county jobs; the local pages add property-tax context, school-district rate ranges, nearby places, and Porch Notes tied to each community.

County snapshot

Cities

4

Townships

15

School districts

16

Primary home (PRE) rates, for homes with Michigan's Principal Residence Exemption, range from 29.8114 mills to 50.7886 mills.

Other property, often called non-homestead, usually means rentals, vacation homes, and second homes. Those rates range from 47.8114 mills to 68.4483 mills.

Rate rows come from the official Michigan Treasury millage-rate reports . Data used: 2025 Michigan Treasury Total Property Tax Rates. Last reviewed July 12, 2026.

Use this carefully: Michigan Porch uses the statewide published rates as a planning aid. The local assessor or treasurer controls parcel-specific values, due dates, and special assessments.

County service directory

Find the office before you make the trip

Some questions stay with the city or township. Others move to the county, a health district, or a court. Start with the job you need done, then confirm hours, fees, and forms with the office.

Official Kalamazoo County website

County websites are checked against the State of Michigan county website directory . State and court finders are used where one office or district can serve more than one county. Directory reviewed July 12, 2026. Office roles were checked against Michigan Vital Records, Michigan Treasury taxpayer resources, and State Tax Commission guidance.

Local pages

Places in Kalamazoo County

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Porch Notes

Local notes from Kalamazoo County

Stories, practical notes, and local details tied to places in this county.

Kalamazoo County · History and culture

A dam over an eight-foot waterfall made the lake at Vicksburg's heart

In 1831 John Vickers dammed an eight-foot falls on Portage Creek for a grist mill; the pond he raised became Sunset Lake, and the town that grew around it took his name.

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Kalamazoo County · History and culture

A lakeside ballroom once drew Chicago crowds to a Pavilion Township park

On Long Lake's west shore, the Ramona Palace pulled dancers and big bands by rail from as far as Chicago through the 1930s and '40s; the site is now a Portage park.

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Kalamazoo County · Outdoors

Al Sabo: 25 miles of trail sitting on top of Kalamazoo's drinking water

The Al Sabo Land Preserve in Texas Township is a 700-plus-acre nature area built to guard the wellfield that supplies Kalamazoo's drinking water, with 25 miles of trail laced over the wellheads.

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Kalamazoo County · History and culture

Climax got its name from one settler getting carried away

When early settler Daniel Eldred first saw the wide prairie south of Kalamazoo he declared it 'caps the climax of everything I ever saw,' and the name Climax stuck.

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Kalamazoo County · History and culture

Kalamazoo County's first sawmill spun up here in 1831

Judge Caleb Eldred built the first sawmill in Kalamazoo County at Comstock in 1831, and a year later he and Horace Comstock raised the county's first grist mill on the same fast water.

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Kalamazoo County · History and culture

Oshtemo means 'head waters' — and there's a creek to prove it

Oshtemo Township carries a Potawatomi word meaning head waters, a fitting name for the high ground where Arcadia Creek begins before flowing east into downtown Kalamazoo.

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Browse all 35 Kalamazoo County notes →

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