If you own a home in Canton Township, your Canton, MI property tax bill arrives twice a year: a summer bill due September 14 and a winter bill due February 14. The amount is your property’s taxable value multiplied by the combined millage rates of the township, Wayne County, and your school district (Plymouth-Canton, Wayne-Westland, or Van Buren), with a $195 solid waste fee added to the winter bill.1Canton Township, MI. Canton Township MI – Property Tax Calculator2Canton Township, MI. Canton Township, MI – Frequently Asked Questions – Garbage
How Your Bill Is Calculated
One mill equals one dollar of tax per $1,000 of taxable value. So a home with a taxable value of $100,000 and a combined millage rate of 50 mills owes $5,000 for the year. Taxable value is not the same as market value, and the gap between them is often the most important number on your notice.
Under Michigan’s Proposal A framework, your taxable value can rise no more than 5% or the rate of inflation (whichever is lower) each year that you continue to own the property.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.27a The assessed value on your notice is meant to represent 50% of true cash value, but because the cap holds taxable value back, a longtime owner’s taxable value often sits well below that. In a rising market, a home worth $400,000 might carry a taxable value of $120,000.
That benefit disappears the year after a sale. When a home changes hands, the taxable value “uncaps” and resets to the State Equalized Value, which Michigan caps at 50% of true cash value.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 205.737 New buyers frequently see a bill much higher than the prior owner paid, even on the same house in the same year.
Canton’s Assessor’s Office mails assessment notices in late February. The notice lists your assessed value, State Equalized Value, taxable value, and Parcel Identification Number.5Canton Township, MI. Canton Township MI – Assessors Office Read it when it arrives. It is your window to appeal, and the deadlines are short.
Due Dates and Deferment
Summer bills are mailed July 1 and due by 4:30 p.m. on September 14. Winter bills are mailed December 1 and due by 4:30 p.m. on February 14. When a due date lands on a weekend, the deadline moves to the next business day.6Canton Township, MI. Canton Township MI – Property Taxes
Some residents can push the summer bill back to the winter due date. Seniors, disabled individuals, veterans, surviving spouses of veterans, and farmers may qualify for a summer tax deferment under MCL 211.51 by filing with the township treasurer by September 15.7Wayne County, Michigan. Tax Exemption Programs Deferment doesn’t shrink the bill. It buys time.
Ways to Pay
You can mail a check or money order to the Canton Township Treasurer at P.O. Box 87010, Canton, MI 48187, or use the 24-hour drop box at the Canton Center Road entrance of the Administration Building. If you mail your payment and want a receipt back, include the entire bill and a self-addressed stamped envelope.8Canton Township, MI. Canton Township, MI – Frequently Asked Questions – Tax Collection
Online payments are available through the township’s payment portal. ACH payments from a checking or savings account are free. Credit and debit card payments carry a 2.85% convenience fee, which works out to about $85 on a $3,000 payment.9Canton Township, MI. Canton Township MI – Online Tax Bill Payment
If your mortgage includes escrow, your lender pays the township on your behalf and you won’t see a bill to pay yourself. Verify each year that the payment actually went out on time. If it didn’t, the township assesses penalties against the property regardless of whose mistake it was.
What Late Payment Costs
Once a due date passes, the township adds interest at 1% per month plus a 4% county property tax administration fee.10Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.44 On a $5,000 bill, that 4% fee alone is $200, and it applies the day after the deadline.
Unpaid taxes are eventually returned as delinquent to the Wayne County Treasurer, where interest continues under MCL 211.78a.11Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.44a Michigan runs a three-year forfeiture and foreclosure timeline. Parcels are forfeited to the county treasurer in the second year of delinquency, and if taxes are still unpaid by March 31 of the third year, the foreclosing governmental unit can obtain a judgment of foreclosure.12Michigan Department of Treasury. Property Tax Forfeiture and Foreclosure You can lose the home. The process is not fast, but the fees and interest that accumulate along the way make catching up harder every month.
How to Appeal Your Assessment
If you think your assessed or taxable value is too high, the first stop is the Canton Township Board of Review. It meets during the week of the second Monday in March each year for at least 12 hours of protest hearings.13Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.30 You can appear in person or, if the township has authorized letter protests, submit written evidence without attending.
Bring proof. Recent comparable sales, a professional appraisal, or photos documenting property conditions the assessor may not have seen. The goal is to show the assessed value exceeds 50% of your home’s true cash value. The Board of Review must send you its decision by the first Monday in June.13Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.30
If the board rules against you, you can appeal to the Michigan Tax Tribunal. For residential property, the deadline is July 31 of the tax year at issue. You cannot skip the Board of Review step; the Tribunal won’t take the case without it.
Exemptions That Lower the Bill
Principal Residence Exemption
Owner-occupants can exempt their Canton home from the local school district’s operating millage by filing a Principal Residence Exemption (PRE) affidavit. It’s one of the largest reductions available to Michigan homeowners. File with the township by June 1 to apply to the summer levy and everything after, or by November 1 to start with the winter levy.14Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7cc – Principal Residence Exemption New buyers, put this near the top of your list.
Poverty Exemption
Homeowners unable to contribute toward property taxes because of poverty may qualify for a partial or full exemption under MCL 211.7u. You apply to the Board of Review, meet federal poverty guidelines (or the township’s adopted alternative thresholds), and submit federal and state income tax returns for everyone living in the home.15Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7u The application must be renewed annually.
Disabled Veteran Exemption
Veterans discharged under honorable conditions and rated 100% permanently and totally disabled by the VA are exempt from all property taxes on their homestead. The exemption extends to the unremarried surviving spouse, including on a new homestead acquired after the veteran’s death. As of January 1, 2025, once granted, the exemption stays in effect without annual reapplication.16Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 211.7b
Michigan Homestead Property Tax Credit
This is a state income tax credit, not a local exemption, but it reimburses part of what you paid in property tax. For the 2026 tax year, household resources must be $71,500 or less and taxable value must be $165,400 or less. You claim it on your Michigan income tax return. The average credit in the 2025 filing season was around $820, and nearly 1.1 million residents received it.17Michigan Department of Treasury. Michigan Taxpayers Encouraged to Check Eligibility for Homestead Property Tax Credit Renters can also qualify because a portion of rent counts as property tax for the credit.
Federal Deduction if You Itemize
Canton homeowners who itemize federally can deduct property taxes as part of the state and local tax (SALT) deduction. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act signed in July 2025, the SALT cap rose from $10,000 to $40,000, with 1% annual increases through 2029. For taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income above $500,000, the cap phases back down toward $10,000 at a 30% rate. Married taxpayers filing separately get half the cap. For most Canton homeowners who itemize, the higher cap means the full property tax bill is now deductible, which was often not the case under the previous $10,000 limit.