They call Flint "Vehicle City," and the name reaches back to the carriage trade. William Durant organized General Motors here in 1908 around Buick, and generations of Flint families were tied to the Buick, Chevrolet, Fisher Body, and AC Spark Plug plants. Flint is also where autoworkers occupied key Fisher Body operations for 44 days in the winter of 1936-37. The settlement recognized the UAW as bargaining representative for the workers who took part. Sloan Museum of Discovery covers the city's history and Flint-built vehicles, though its displays rotate.
At a glance
State millage data currently shows about 50.5 to 54.1 mills for a primary home. 5 school districts cover the community, so the parcel and PRE status decide the final bill.
Practical directory
Common home and paperwork paths
Start with the Michigan guide that matches the job. For a parcel, bill, permit, or recorded document in Flint, confirm the final answer with the local or county office shown farther down this page.
- Delinquent property tax Get help before the redemption date Find the foreclosing unit, exact payoff, assistance programs, counseling, and legal-help paths.
- Utility shutoff or past-due bill Work the utility-help sequence Call the provider, apply for emergency relief, use 2-1-1, and ask about household protections.
- Essential home repair Find repair or weatherization help Match the repair, household, service area, and rural status to programs that may actually fit.
- Home and estate Handle a home after someone dies Keep the property stable, find the deed and authority to act, and choose the right estate or title path.
- Manufactured home Transfer or repair the home title Start with the Secretary of State path for a sale, missing title, lien, or legal affixture to land.
- Permits and repairs Check a permit or contractor Find who enforces the work in Flint, what to put in writing, and where to check a license.
Who handles what
Send the question to the right office
Start local for a parcel, tax bill, permit, or housing rule. Move to the county or a district when the record or service covers more than one community.
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Assessment, PRE, current tax bill, or Board of Review
Flint assessor or treasurer
Start with the Flint office shown on the assessment notice or tax bill. The assessor handles value and exemptions; the treasurer handles the current summer or winter bill.
Michigan property-tax basics -
Rental registration, building permit, or code problem
Flint building, rental, or code office
The enforcing agency can be the municipality, county, or state, and electrical, mechanical, and plumbing work may go to different places.
Find the official permit jurisdiction ↗ Michigan homeowner guide -
Marriage license, local record, deed, or delinquent tax
Genesee County offices
The clerk, register of deeds, and county treasurer handle different parts of this work. The county page separates them for you.
Open the official Genesee County site ↗ Getting married in Michigan -
Private well, septic system, local health, or trial court
County, district, or court finder
A health district or court can serve more than one community. The county page links to the official statewide finders.
Find the local health department ↗ Michigan well and septic guide
The practical stuff
Buying, owning, or selling in Flint
The seller's tax bill may not be your tax bill.
2025 property-tax snapshot
- Primary home (PRE)
- 50.5344 mills - 54.0549 mills
- Other property / non-homestead
- 68.5344 mills - 72.0549 mills
- School districts available
- 5 in Flint
One mill means $1 per $1,000 of Taxable Value. Rate rows come from the official 2025 Michigan Treasury report. Last reviewed July 12, 2026.
What these local words mean
- Primary home (PRE)
- A home you own and live in as your main home. PRE stands for Principal Residence Exemption and can lower the school operating tax.
- Non-homestead
- Property that is not treated as the owner's main home, such as a rental, vacation home, or second home.
- Assessor
- The local office that estimates and records property values and exemptions.
- Treasurer
- The local office that collects property tax payments and can confirm bill timing.
Michigan homebuyer tax calculator
See the tax bill after you buy.
Where is the house?
Pick the county, city or township, and school district. We use the official 2025 tax rates published by Michigan Treasury.
Not sure of the school district? Check the property listing. It is usually under "Schools."
Need to double-check the exact parcel? Use the official state estimator at treas-secure.state.mi.us/ptestimator or call the local treasurer. Rates can change across city, township, village, and school district lines, so the exact parcel matters.
Why a buyer's property-tax bill can change after a sale
In Michigan, property tax isn't figured on what you paid — it's figured on the home's Taxable Value, with the local millage rates applied to that number. While one owner keeps the home, Proposal A caps how fast that Taxable Value can climb. When the home sells, the cap usually comes off — this is called uncapping — and the Taxable Value resets toward the State Equalized Value, or SEV, which tends to run about half of a home's market value.
That reset is the part that catches buyers: a longtime owner may have been paying on an old, capped number, so the year after you buy, yours can jump to the new one — and your first full-year bill can land well above what the seller was paying. In Flint, your rate can vary by parcel. The school district tied to the property matters, and 5 school districts cover Flint. For a primary home with PRE, Michigan's main-home exemption, rates currently run about 50.5 to 54.1 mills. Without PRE, non-homestead rates run about 68.5 to 72.1 mills. The calculator above turns those local rates into your actual number.
If this will be your main home, make sure that PRE is filed with the local assessor — it can lift up to 18 school-operating mills off the bill. Rentals, vacation homes, and second homes stay on the higher non-homestead rate.
The tax reset is the big one, but it isn't the whole checklist. It's also worth checking whether the address sits in a floodplain, and whether you'll owe a city income tax where you live or work. The buying-a-home guide walks through the rest.
School districts in this area
Carman-ainsworth SC
Primary home (PRE) 52.9428 mills · non-homestead 70.9428 mills
Flint City School Dist
Primary home (PRE) 52.3352 mills · non-homestead 70.1948 mills
Kearsley Community S
Primary home (PRE) 54.0549 mills · non-homestead 72.0549 mills
Swartz Creek Commun
Primary home (PRE) 54.036 mills · non-homestead 72.036 mills
Westwood Heights SC
Primary home (PRE) 50.5344 mills · non-homestead 68.5344 mills
Local rules and costs to check
Note-sized practical catches tied to Flint: taxes, property rules, permits, local costs, or other things worth checking before you decide.
Local check
Genesee County pays a small tax that keeps the art museum free-ish
In August 2018 Genesee County voters approved a countywide arts and culture millage that funds the Flint Cultural Center's institutions and grants to other arts groups — a property tax most Michigan counties don't levy.
Local check
Buying in Flint? An honest, up-to-date look at the water
Flint's water crisis caused lasting harm, but the city's water meets standards today; buyers should still check service-line history and current reports.
Local check
Flint has a city income tax (and it's moving to state processing)
Flint charges a 1% resident and 0.5% nonresident city income tax, with state processing scheduled for the 2026 tax year.
Local check
Flint's land bank: cheap lots and fixer-uppers, with a catch
The Genesee County Land Bank sells Flint side lots and fixer-upper houses cheaply, but buyers need to budget for real rehab work.
Stories & local context
Get to know Flint
No honest look at Flint skips the water. After the 2014 source switch left lead in the taps, the city went back to Great Lakes water in late 2015, restored corrosion control, and replaced the lead service lines connecting homes to the main, with the last of those dug up by mid-2025. The water has tested below federal and state limits every year since 2016, and the EPA lifted its emergency order in 2025. The mains are still old, though, and many residents understandably still use filters. If you're buying, it's worth asking whether the home's line was among those replaced; the note below has the up-to-date picture.
Two other Flint-specific things to budget for. The city charges a local income tax — 1% if you live here, 0.5% if you only work here — on top of state and federal (state processing arrives for the 2026 tax year). And Flint is home to the Genesee County Land Bank, one of the first in the country, which sells vacant side lots for around $150 and rough fixer-upper houses for as little as $1,000 to $3,000, though those need serious rehab and proof you'll restore them. Like most Michigan property, Flint also bills taxes twice a year. The notes below walk through each.
Featured local story
The Genesee Valley Trail ties Flint Township to the city
A paved trail runs from Flint Township's park and commercial corridor toward Flint, where it links into the larger Flint River Trail system.
Read the story →-
Applewood: the apple-named estate of the man who steered Flint
Applewood, the 1916 Flint home and gentleman's farm of GM leader Charles Stewart Mott, keeps an orchard of 29 heirloom apple varieties and opens its gardens to the public.
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Berston Field House: the Flint gym that made an Olympic champion
Berston Field House on Flint's north end opened in 1923, became the city's first recreation center to admit Black residents, and trained two-time Olympic gold medalist boxer Claressa Shields.
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Flint's Capitol Theatre puts a fake Italian sky over your head
The 1928 Capitol Theatre on Flint's Second Street is an atmospheric movie palace — designed to feel like a starlit Italian garden — that sat dark 20 years before a $37 million restoration reopened it in 2017.
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Buick City: from Flint auto complex to new industrial park
Nearly 28,000 people worked across the Buick City site in the 1980s. Assembly ended in 1999; cleanup continues, while the first Flint Commerce Center building now occupies part of the old campus.
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Flint sells produce in a building that once printed the newspaper
The Flint Farmers' Market — open in some form since 1905 — moved in 2014 into the old Flint Journal printing plant on East First Street, two blocks from where it stood a century ago.
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Flint was 'Vehicle City' before it ever built a car
Flint earned its 'Vehicle City' nickname in the 1890s for horse-drawn carriages, not automobiles; lit arches once spanned Saginaw Street, and modern replicas stand downtown today.
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Flint's airport sits on a banker's donated farm
Bishop International Airport began in 1928 when banker Arthur Giles Bishop gave 220 acres of Genesee County farmland to Flint for flying; it now carries the airline traffic for mid-Michigan.
Nearby places
The closest Michigan Porch pages to Flint. Open one to read it, or put it side by side with Flint — tax rates, school districts, and city income tax.
Compare Flint with a neighbor →Next steps
What to check next for Flint
Use the county office map for records and services, or follow the home path that matches what you are doing now.
- County Open Genesee County See the county page for other cities, townships, villages, local notes, and the county-wide tax snapshot. Open county page →
- Homeowner Keep the house on track Use one calm directory for tax notices, insurance, contractors, permits, records, and repairs. Open homeowner guide →
- Seller Plan the Michigan closing Walk through disclosure, title, transfer tax, PRE rescission, and the records worth keeping. Open seller guide →
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