millage rate

Definition

The tax rate used to calculate property taxes, expressed as dollars per $1,000 of assessed value. Because 'taxes per thousand' sounds friendlier than the actual tax bill.

Example Usage

With a millage rate of 15, the property taxes on a $300,000 assessed value would be $4,500 annually.

Origin

From Latin 'millesimum' meaning thousandth, adopted into taxation terminology

Fun Fact

Municipalities sometimes play games with millage rates—lowering the rate while simultaneously increasing assessed values to keep revenue steady.

Source: Property taxation terminology

Related Terms

Intermediate

mortgagee

The lender in a mortgage agreement—basically, the bank that owns your house until you finish paying them back over the next few decades. This party holds the security interest in your property and has the legal right to foreclose if you stop making payments, making them simultaneously your benefactor and potential nemesis. They're the reason you can buy a house now but also the reason you'll be sending checks until retirement.

🏠 Real Estate

Advanced

reconveyance

The transfer of property title from a lender back to the borrower upon full loan repayment, most common with trust deeds. The ceremonial return of your property's soul after years of mortgage servitude.

🏠 Real Estate

Intermediate

rights-of-way

The legal privilege to cross or use someone else's property for a specific purpose, typically for accessing your landlocked parcel or running utilities through their yard. These easements create permanent pathways that survive ownership changes, meaning future owners inherit both the right and the awkwardness of strangers traipsing across their land. It's neighborly cooperation enforced by legal documentation instead of friendliness.

🏠 Real Estate

Beginner

assess

The formal process of determining value, typically involving clipboards, spreadsheets, and someone walking around your property looking concerned. In real estate, it's how governments decide how much they can tax you; in business, it's how managers justify their existence by evaluating everything constantly. The corporate cousin of "let me take a look at that."

🏠 Real Estate

Advanced

defeasance clause

A mortgage provision stating that the lender's title interest terminates once the loan is fully repaid. It's the legal version of 'when you pay me back, I promise to stop owning part of your house.'

🏠 Real Estate

Advanced

Foreclosure

When the bank decides it wants its house back, like a toddler reclaiming a toy it forgot about until someone else started playing with it. One person's financial tragedy is another person's "investment opportunity."

🏠 Real Estate

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