Mill Rates and Per-$100 Rates: Property Tax Math
Tax problems come dressed in two costumes: mills (dollars per $1,000 of assessed value) and rates per $100 of assessed value (the Texas convention). Both are the same T-method once you convert the rate — and the exam's favorite trick is handing you an exemption you forget to subtract.
The formula
Taxable value = Assessed value − Exemptions · Tax = Taxable value × Rate (1 mill = $1 per $1,000 = 0.001)
- Mill
- one-thousandth of a dollar: 25 mills = 0.025 = $25 per $1,000
- Per-$100 rate
- divide taxable value by 100, then multiply by the rate
- Exemption
- subtracted from assessed value BEFORE the rate is applied
Try it live
Every intermediate step is shown — the goal is that on exam day you can run the same chain on paper.
Property tax calculator
Subtracted before the rate is applied.
- Taxable value$240,000 − $40,000
- $200,000
- Rate conversion25 mills = 25 ÷ 1,000 = 0.025
- Annual tax
- $5,000
The method, worked in exam style
A home is assessed at $240,000 with a $40,000 homestead exemption. The tax rate is 25 mills. What is the annual tax?
- Taxable value: 240,000 − 40,000 = $200,000.
- Convert mills: 25 mills = 25 ÷ 1,000 = 0.025.
- Tax: 200,000 × 0.025 = $5,000.
Answer: $5,000
The classic trap
The two standard distractors: $6,000 (forgot to subtract the exemption) and $500 or $50,000 (slid the decimal converting mills). Subtract exemptions first; then write the rate as a plain decimal before multiplying.
Practice problems
Work each on paper first, then open the solution. If your setup differs from the solution's first line, that — not arithmetic — is what to fix.
1. Assessed value $310,000, no exemptions, rate $2.40 per $100. What is the annual tax?
Show the solution
- Per-$100 units: 310,000 ÷ 100 = 3,100.
- Tax: 3,100 × 2.40 = 7,440.
Answer: $7,440
2. A property's annual tax is $3,240 at 18 mills. What is its taxable value?
Show the solution
- 18 mills = 0.018. This is a T-method total problem.
- Taxable value = 3,240 ÷ 0.018 = 180,000.
Answer: $180,000
3. Assessed value $265,000, homestead exemption $25,000, rate 32 mills. What is the tax?
Show the solution
- Taxable value: 265,000 − 25,000 = 240,000.
- 32 mills = 0.032; tax = 240,000 × 0.032 = 7,680.
Answer: $7,680
Math is one domain — the diagnostic measures all of them
The free 24-question adaptive diagnostic finds the difficulty level where your setup breaks down — in math and every other blueprint domain — and reports a Readiness Score with a stated confidence range.
Keep going: Prorations · The T-method · California's Prop 13 tax math
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