Forest Hills Schools Don't Come With One Tax Bill

Two houses, both listed as zoned for Forest Hills Public Schools, both roughly the same square footage and roughly the same asking price. One sits on a cul-de-sac in Ada Township. The other sits inside the city limits of Kentwood, a few miles south. A buyer comparing them on a spreadsheet would reasonably expect the monthly carrying cost to land in the same neighborhood, because the district name on both listing sheets is identical.

It won't. The two houses answer to different township or city governments, different millage rates, and in one case a municipal income tax that doesn't exist in the other. The school district name told the buyer almost nothing about what they'll actually pay to live there.

A School District Wearing Six Different Governments

"Forest Hills" has no mayor, no township board, and no city budget of its own. It's a census-designated place, which is a statistical label the Census Bureau uses to describe an area with no incorporated government. The name comes entirely from Forest Hills Public Schools, formed in 1956 when several smaller districts east of Grand Rapids consolidated into one system. That district's attendance boundary now stretches across parts of Ada Township, Cascade Township, Cannon Township, and Grand Rapids Charter Township, plus portions of the cities of Grand Rapids and Kentwood.

Six separate taxing governments, one school name. A listing that says "Forest Hills schools" is describing which buildings your kids would attend. It says nothing about which government sets your millage rate, whether you owe a city income tax, or who plows your street.

The Line You Cross Without Noticing

The clearest divide runs through income tax, and it has nothing to do with school quality. Homes inside the city limits of Grand Rapids carry a municipal income tax on top of everything else. For 2026 the resident rate sits at 1.5% of income, withheld the same way state and federal taxes are. Ada Township and Cascade Township charge no municipal income tax at all, and neither does the city of Kentwood.

That doesn't mean every township resident is fully outside the reach of Grand Rapids' tax code. Someone who lives in Ada or Cascade but commutes into a job located within Grand Rapids city limits still owes the city's non-resident commuter tax, currently 0.75% of the income earned there. Living outside the line removes the resident rate. It doesn't remove the job-location rate. Anyone weighing this should confirm the specifics with a tax professional, since the exact liability depends on where the income is actually earned rather than just where the house sits.

The Millage Math Inside the Same District

Income tax is only half the picture, and the more surprising half is that millage rates swing meaningfully even between two jurisdictions that charge no income tax at all. Comparing homes that all fall inside the Forest Hills attendance zone:

A mill is one dollar of tax per $1,000 of a home's taxable value, so the gap between Grand Rapids Charter Township and the city of Kentwood, both zero-income-tax jurisdictions serving the same school district, works out to about $45 a month on a home with a $150,000 taxable value. That gap scales with price. Forest Hills homes routinely carry taxable values well above that figure, which means the same millage spread turns into a meaningfully larger monthly difference on the kind of properties this district actually attracts.

Cascade Township and Cannon Township also fall inside the Forest Hills boundary, and their specific millage figures weren't part of this comparison. That's exactly the point: the rate isn't something you can infer from the school district name. It has to be pulled for the specific parcel.

Why the Cheaper Number Isn't a Free Discount

The lower millage in townships isn't simply a break on the same services. Grand Rapids Charter Township and other townships in the district often leave residents to arrange their own well, septic, or private trash pickup, while city residents pay into municipal water, sewer, and refuse systems that come bundled with the higher rate. A buyer comparing a township listing to a city listing on tax rate alone is comparing two different service packages, not two prices for the same thing.

One Township, Three School Districts

Grand Rapids Charter Township's own treasurer's office states plainly that its summer tax bill covers Forest Hills, Northview, or East Grand Rapids schools, depending on where in the township a given property sits. That single sentence from the township's own government page is the sharpest illustration of how loosely the school boundary tracks the political one. Two houses under the same township government, a few streets apart, can be zoned for entirely different districts. The Forest Hills line doesn't follow the township line, and the township line doesn't follow the city line. All three exist independently, and a parcel's tax bill depends on where it happens to land inside all of them at once.

The Tax Bill on the Listing Sheet Isn't the One You'll Pay

Michigan caps how much a home's taxable value can rise each year under a homeowner's ownership, a protection tied to Proposal A. That cap stays with the seller. When the home sells, the taxable value uncaps in the year following the transfer and resets to match the assessed value, which is typically higher. A buyer who prices their monthly payment off the seller's current tax bill is often pricing off a number that's about to change.

The Principal Residence Exemption works in the buyer's favor once it's in place. Filing a home as a primary residence removes the local school operating millage from the bill, a reduction that can run up to 18 mills depending on the district. That exemption doesn't apply to a second home or a rental, which matters for anyone in Forest Hills weighing a purchase as an eventual investment property rather than a primary residence.

For 2026, the state set the inflation multiplier that governs future annual increases at 2.7%. Once the taxable value uncaps after a sale and the buyer files for the exemption, that 2.7% cap is what limits how fast the bill can climb in the years after, barring a new voter-approved millage.

What This Means If You're Comparing Forest Hills Listings

The name on the listing sheet answers one question: which school buildings a family would attend. It doesn't answer which government sets the rate, whether an income tax applies, or what the bill looks like a year after closing. Before comparing two Forest Hills-zoned homes on cost, it's worth pulling the specific parcel's taxing jurisdiction and current millage from Kent County's records, checking whether the listed tax bill reflects a capped taxable value that will reset after the sale, and confirming income tax exposure based on where any household earner actually works, not just where the house sits.

Does Forest Hills have its own city government or council? No. It's a school district boundary layered on top of six separate townships and cities, each with its own government, budget, and tax rate.

If I buy in Ada Township to avoid Grand Rapids' income tax, am I fully clear of it? Only for the resident rate. If your job is physically located inside Grand Rapids city limits, the 0.75% non-resident commuter tax still applies to income earned there, regardless of where you live.

Why did my tax bill jump the year after I closed on a Forest Hills home? Michigan's taxable value cap resets, or uncaps, in the year after a property transfers to a new owner, adjusting to match the assessed value. That's a normal part of buying in Michigan, not an error on the bill.

Comparing two Forest Hills-zoned homes takes more than matching square footage and asking price. If you're weighing listings across Ada, Cascade, Grand Rapids Charter Township, or the city itself and want the actual tax and jurisdiction picture pulled for specific addresses, the team at Blu House Properties can walk through it parcel by parcel before you write an offer.