Anyone closing on a Millington home this month is buying a house with a 2026 property tax bill that has already come due and may not be paid yet. Shelby County property taxes become due the first Monday in October, which was October 5 this year. They can be paid through the last day of February the following year without extra fees. The City of Millington's own audited financial statements say the same about city taxes: due in October and delinquent after February 28, when penalties and interest begin. For tax year 2026, February 28, 2027 is the last penalty-free day.
So a November or December buyer is looking at a live bill. On that bill, the Millington city rate reads $1.20 per $100 of assessed value. That's lower than the $1.40 the city charged before the 2025 reappraisal. What it pays for has changed more than the number has.
Two Levies, One Collector
A Millington homeowner pays two property taxes, the city's and Shelby County's, and both are collected through the Shelby County Trustee. The city's audit says its rate is "set annually by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen and collected through the Shelby County Trustee."
The city rate for the fiscal year that started July 1, 2026 is in Ordinance 2026-11, which the Board passed on final reading June 8, 2026. It levies $1.20 per $100 of assessed value.
The county rate went up this summer. As Action News 5 reported, the Shelby County Board of Commissioners voted 8-5 to approve a $1.6 billion budget and set the rate at $2.702382 per $100 of assessed value, up from $2.69. A Trustee property tax notice dated September 11, 2026 shows that $2.702382 rate on a tax year 2026 bill.
Tennessee doesn't tax a home on its full appraised value. The Tennessee Comptroller explains that residential property is assessed at 25% of appraised value, and the rate applies to that assessed figure.
Here's how that works for a Millington home appraised at $250,000, using the 2026 rates:
| Step | City of Millington | Shelby County |
|---|---|---|
| Appraised value | $250,000 | $250,000 |
| Assessed at 25% | $62,500 | $62,500 |
| Rate per $100 assessed | $1.20 | $2.702382 |
| 2026 tax | $750.00 | $1,688.99 |
That comes to about $2,439 for the year. The county share is more than twice the city share. Even so, the city share is where the more interesting story sits.
The Rate Went Down, Just Not as Far as It Could Have
Shelby County reappraised property in 2025. When values go up in a reappraisal year, Tennessee cities calculate a "certified" tax rate, which is the rate that would bring in about the same revenue as before. Millington's Board of Mayor and Aldermen adopted a 2025 certified rate of $1.1157 per $100 in a resolution dated June 9, 2025.
The Board then set the fiscal 2026 rate at $1.20 instead. The city's audit for the year ended June 30, 2025 explains why. The $1.20 rate "was intended to offset potential appeals related to the 2025 reappraisal and to provide a conservative increase in property tax revenue to promote financial stability and support future City growth."
The audit's ten-year table shows how stable the rate had been. It was $1.53 from 2016 through 2021, $1.40 from 2022 through 2024, and $1.20 for 2025. The drop to $1.20 looks like a cut, but because it sits above $1.1157, it was built to collect somewhat more than the revenue-neutral amount. On the $250,000 example, $1.1157 would have meant a city bill of about $697. At $1.20 the bill is $750. The city kept the same $1.20 for fiscal 2027.
More Than Half of the $1.20 Is Committed Before It Arrives
Each Millington tax ordinance divides the rate into two parts: general purposes, which covers city operations, and debt service, which covers principal and interest. That split shows how much of the rate is already spoken for.
| Fiscal year | Total rate | General purposes | Debt service | Debt share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | $1.20 | $0.4847 | $0.7153 | about 60% |
| FY2027 | $1.20 | $0.5676 | $0.6324 | about 53% |
In fiscal 2026, under Ordinance 2025-8, about 72 cents of every $1.20 went to debt. In fiscal 2027 it's about 63 cents. On the $250,000 example, that's $395.25 of this year's $750 city bill going to debt payments and $354.75 to everything else the city runs.
The audit counts $39.7 million in governmental general obligation notes outstanding at June 30, 2025. Its debt schedule lists Tennessee Municipal League notes from 2013, 2015, 2020 and 2021, plus a state Energy Efficient Schools Initiative loan.
The $26 Million Behind the Debt Line
In May 2024, Millington issued a $26,000,000 General Obligation Bond Anticipation Note, Series 2024, at 4.60%. The audit's debt schedule listed its maturity date as April 1, 2026. The audit says the city created a separate Debt Service Fund in fiscal 2024 "to account for the proceeds and debt service related to the $26 million interim financing to make major improvements to the Millington Middle School." It also describes the city's governmental debt as financing capital work that includes "major renovations and improvements to Millington Middle School."
The note was always meant to be temporary. Writing as of June 30, 2025, the audit said the interim financing for the middle school campus "is expected to be refinanced through the USDA Rural Development Community Loan Program upon project completion." The city's fiscal 2026 budget calls it interim borrowing for a 40-year USDA school loan and budgets $1,196,000 in interest for that year. In March 2026, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen heard an update on the project's financing from PFM Financial Advisors.
The building itself is close to finished. At a Millington Municipal Schools board meeting, facilities director Phil LeBlanc reported that the Millington Middle School project was 72% complete as of early October 2026, with substantial completion expected January 27, 2027.
Put those pieces together and the city rate makes more sense. A large part of the $1.20 that Millington owners pay is the carrying cost of a school building now under construction. The city's budget documents tie that borrowing to a 40-year USDA loan as the long-term financing. Whatever repayment schedule the permanent financing sets will shape the debt service line in future tax ordinances, and that line has been the larger half of the city rate in both of the last two budgets.
The Water Plant Debt Isn't on the Tax Bill
Not all of Millington's borrowing runs through property taxes. The audit lists a $14 million Tennessee Municipal League note from 2021 that funds modification and expansion of the south water treatment plant and other water plant projects. The audit says this utility debt is "repaid from operating revenues" from user charges, not from the property tax levy. The adopted fiscal 2026 rates were $19.55 per 2,000 gallons for water and $11.51 per 2,000 gallons for sewer.
In other words, the water system's borrowing shows up on the utility bill, and the school borrowing shows up on the tax bill. Someone budgeting for a Millington home is paying for both, just in different places.
Offsets for Older Owners and Disabled Veterans
Relief programs can bring down the county share of the bill for owners who qualify. Tennessee's 2026 Tax Relief brochure sets an income limit of $38,470 of 2025 income for elderly and disabled homeowners. Applicants must be 65 or older, or disabled, by December 31, 2026.
The Trustee's FAQ lists the maximum 2026 Shelby County relief amounts. They are $227 for qualifying elderly or disabled homeowners and $1,182.30 for qualifying disabled veterans. For disabled veterans, the Trustee says the home must be a primary residence and the veteran's disability must fall into one of the program's listed categories, which include a total and permanent rating from a service-connected disability and a 100% total and permanent rating from being a prisoner of war. It lists no age or income requirement. The Trustee also runs a separate local tax freeze program, which requires at least one owner to be 65 or older by December 31, 2026.
On the $250,000 example, the maximum disabled veteran amount equals about 70% of the county's $1,688.99 share.
A Few Quick Questions
Is Millington's $1.20 rate the whole tax bill? No. It's the city's levy. Shelby County's $2.702382 rate, the one printed on tax year 2026 Trustee notices, is added on top, and both apply to 25% of the home's appraised value.
Did Millington raise taxes after the 2025 reappraisal? The rate dropped from $1.40 to $1.20. The city's audit says the new rate was set above the $1.1157 certified rate to account for appeals and allow a modest increase in revenue.
What is the debt portion of the city rate paying for? For fiscal 2027, $0.6324 of the $1.20 goes to principal and interest. The largest item in the city's debt schedule is the $26 million interim note for the Millington Middle School project, which the fiscal 2025 audit said was expected to be refinanced through a USDA Rural Development loan when the project was complete.
When does the 2026 bill go delinquent? After February 28, 2027, according to the Shelby County Trustee and the city's audit.
This post is general information about how Millington and Shelby County property taxes are built. It isn't legal, tax or financial advice, so please confirm your own bill, relief eligibility and closing figures with the Shelby County Trustee, a tax professional or your closing attorney.
If you're looking at a Millington home and want to see what its tax bill looks like at your price point, or how that bill fits next to a VA or conventional payment, I'm happy to work through the numbers with you. Teresa Ervin Realty is right here in north Shelby County. Let's Get A Coffee and go over it together.
