Farmington Hills Authorizes Public-Safety Tax for July 2026 Levy

Farmington Hills’ municipal code authorizes a dedicated public-safety property tax of up to 1.4764 mills beginning with the July 2026 levy. The tax will apply to taxable real and personal property in the city, with revenue restricted to police and fire staffing and equipment.

The authorization creates a new potential source of local funding for public safety while also adding a possible charge to property-tax bills. The approved records do not show that the city will use the full maximum rate, however, and they do not establish the final dollar amount any property owner will pay.

What the ordinance authorizes

The code sets the maximum tax at 0.14764%, or 1.4764 mills. It identifies the July 2026 levy as the starting point and applies the tax to real and personal property subject to taxation in Farmington Hills.

The revenue is limited to two categories of spending: police and fire staffing, and police and fire equipment. That restriction means the levy is not authorized as a general-purpose funding source for unrelated city operations.

In practical terms, the tax could support decisions involving the Farmington Hills Police Department and Farmington Hills Fire Department. The approved material does not say that additional staff have already been hired, that specific equipment has already been purchased, or that the maximum rate has been adopted.

Public-safety demand in the city

Farmington Hills’ 2026 State of the City materials reported nearly 53,000 police calls and more than 14,000 fire incidents during 2025. Those figures provide a measure of the workload reported by the city, but they do not by themselves establish how the authorized tax will be spent.

The city also reported opening a $3 million Emergency Operations Center in 2025 with state grant funding. The facility is part of the city’s emergency-response infrastructure, but the approved records do not state that the public-safety tax will fund the center.

Those existing public-safety figures and projects provide context for the levy, while the ordinance controls how its revenue may be used. The source material does not identify a staffing plan, equipment list or spending schedule tied to the tax.

How it fits into the city’s finances

Farmington Hills reported investing $38 million in roads and infrastructure in 2025 and planning $41 million in infrastructure investment for 2026. Those amounts illustrate other major demands on city resources, but the dedicated public-safety levy cannot be treated as general infrastructure funding under the approved ordinance language.

For property owners, the key distinction is between authorization and final collection. The code permits a levy of up to 1.4764 mills; it does not, in the approved records, provide the final rate or a typical homeowner bill impact.

What happens next

The next records to watch are the city’s final 2026 tax-rate action and related assessor information. Those documents should show whether the city uses the full authorized rate or adopts a lower one. They also would provide the information needed to calculate the effect on individual taxable property.

For now, the confirmed development is the code-based authorization taking effect with the July 2026 levy. The amount ultimately collected, the effect on individual property-tax bills and the staffing or equipment decisions supported by the revenue remain unsettled in the approved source material.

Sources

• Farmington Hills Code of Ordinances, Article VII Taxation, City of Farmington Hills
• 2026 State of the City Address, City of Farmington Hills

Look for updates to this story

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