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Village

Village of Sparta

Kent County

Village of Sparta is a village in Kent County, Michigan. In 2025, primary homes here pay a total of 40.83 mills in property tax; rentals, second homes and businesses pay 58.83 mills. It levied property tax in 1 tax area in 2025. In fiscal year 2025 it reported $13.3 million in spending across all its funds. It has 4 boards and sub-entities.

Total property tax rate, primary homes

40.83

mills in 2025 · 1 tax area · about $6,642 a year on a median home (estimate)

Total property tax rate, rentals, second homes and businesses

58.83

mills in 2025 · includes the school operating tax

Levies, 2025

1

in 1 tax area

Boards and sub-entities

4

Total property tax rates here, 2025

What property pays to every taxing body (the State, county, schools, local government and others), by tax area. A mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of taxable value.

Compare with every tax area in Kent County →

School district Primary homes mills Median home est. yearly tax Rentals, second homes and businesses mills
Sparta Area Schools 40.8259 $6,642 58.8259

Kent County's certified rates split each area's total between a summer and a winter tax bill; open an area below to see its split.

Primary homes, which their owners live in, pay the homestead rate; so do qualified farmland and a few other kinds of property exempt from the school operating tax. Rentals, second homes and most businesses pay the non-homestead rate, which includes it. What these terms mean

Median home, estimated: the yearly tax a new buyer would pay on a primary home at Kent County's median value, $325,400 (Census Bureau, 2024): half the value times the mills, divided by 1,000. An estimate, not a bill. How the estimate works

Every levy, by tax area

Sparta Area Schools · 40.8259 primary homes, 58.8259 other

Billed in 2 parts, in mills: primary homes summer 33.1663, winter 7.6596; rentals, second homes and businesses summer 42.1663, winter 16.6596.

Levy Levied by Primary homes mills Median home est. yearly tax Rentals, second homes and businesses mills
Allocated or Charter Operating Village of Sparta 12.0000 $1,952 12.0000
School Debt Sparta Area Schools 7.0000 $1,139 7.0000
State Education Tax State of Michigan 6.0000 $976 6.0000
ISD Voted Special Education Kent ISD 4.3364 $706 4.3364
County Allocated Operating Kent County 4.0605 $661 4.0605
Community College Grand Rapids Community College 1.6793 $273 1.6793
Building and Site Sparta Area Schools 1.1500 $187 1.1500
Allocated or Charter Operating Sparta Township 0.9376 $153 0.9376
ISD Voted Vocational Education Kent ISD 0.9310 $151 0.9310
Jail Kent County 0.7417 $121 0.7417
Voted Operating Sparta Township 0.7038 $115 0.7038
Senior Citizens Kent County 0.4914 $80 0.4914
Zoo and Museum Kent County 0.4134 $67 0.4134
Ready by Five Kent County 0.2476 $40 0.2476
ISD Allocated Operating Kent ISD 0.0841 $14 0.0841
Veterans Kent County 0.0491 $8 0.0491
School Operating (Non-Homestead) Sparta Area Schools 0.0000 $0 18.0000

Where the property tax goes here

Each tax area's total for primary homes, split by who levies it.

Of the $6,642 a year a new buyer of a median primary home here would pay (an estimate), about $1,952 goes to the Village of Sparta (29%). The rest goes to the other bodies that levy here: the State, the county, the schools and others.

Its total rate for primary homes ranks 12th highest of Kent County's 94 tax areas. See every area

  • State
  • County
  • ISD and college
  • School district
  • City, township or village
  • Library, transit and other
  • Village of Sparta Sparta Area Schools 40.8259 mills $6,642

    Village of Sparta with Sparta Area Schools: 40.8259 mills in total (State 6.0000, County 6.0037, ISD and college 7.0308, School district 8.1500, City, township or village 13.6414), estimated $6,642 a year for a new buyer

The figures as a table
Tax area State County ISD and college School district City, township or village Library, transit and other Total Estimated tax
Village of Sparta, Sparta Area Schools 6.0000 6.0037 7.0308 8.1500 13.6414 0.0000 40.8259 $6,642

Median home, estimated: the yearly tax a new buyer would pay on a primary home at Kent County's median value, $325,400 (Census Bureau, 2024): half the value times the mills, divided by 1,000. An estimate, not a bill. How the estimate works

What Village of Sparta levies, 2025

Only its own millages, part of the totals above, and how many tax areas each is levied in.

Levy Primary homes mills Median home est. yearly tax Rentals, second homes and businesses mills Tax areas
Allocated or Charter Operating 12.0000 $1,952 12.0000 1

Median home, estimated: the yearly tax a new buyer would pay on a primary home at Kent County's median value, $325,400 (Census Bureau, 2024): half the value times the mills, divided by 1,000. An estimate, not a bill. How the estimate works

Money in and out, fiscal year 2025

From its annual financial report, as filed with the Michigan Department of Treasury. Its fiscal year ends in December.

Revenue

$12.8M

all funds

Spending

$13.3M

all funds

Spending per resident

$3,086

2024 population: 4,323

General fund spending

$8.1M

budget: $9.4M

Spending by purpose

All funds. Share of $13,340,599 in total.

  • Capital outlay, debt service and other $6,935,720 52%
    Capital Outlay $5,374,303
    Debt Service $466,992
    Depreciation $1,094,425
  • Public works $3,621,125 27%
    Public Works (Non-Act 51) $136,016
    Road Commission/Street Dept. (Act 51) $801,798
    Water and/or Sewer Systems $1,859,113
    Airports $536,513
    All Other Public Works $287,685
  • Public safety $1,233,670 9%
    Police/Sheriff/Constable $1,023,939
    Fire $138,333
    Building Inspection & Regulation Activities $71,398
  • General government $928,616 7%
    Legislative (Council, Board, Commission) $16,410
    Chief Executive $260,899
    Treasurer $138,418
    Clerk $2,572
    Building and Grounds $65,981
    All Other General Government $444,336
  • Community and economic development $286,694 2%
    Community Planning and Zoning $1,050
    Economic Development $285,644
  • Recreation and culture $255,075 2%
    Parks and Recreation $228,432
    Various Cultural Activities, Fine Arts, Historical Society, Museums, etc. $26,643
  • Transfers out and special items $79,699 1%
    Transfers (Out) $79,699

Revenue by source

All funds. Share of $12,757,337 in total.

  • Charges for services $3,319,045 26%
    All Other Services Rendered Charges $3,319,045
  • Taxes $2,465,612 19%
    Payment in-Lieu-of Taxes (PILOT) $21,202
    Industrial Facilities Tax (Act 198 of 1974) $39,508
    Property Tax (includes, delinquent taxes, penalties, interest, fees, community wide special assessments) $2,404,902
  • Other revenue $1,791,729 14%
    Sale of Capital Assets $655,421
    Public and Private Contributions $999,895
    Miscellaneous Other Revenue $136,413
  • State grants $1,458,321 11%
    State Revenue Sharing $560,514
    Streets and Highways (Act 51) $528,391
    Streets and Highways (Non-Act 51) $17,633
    Other General/All Other State Aid Grants $351,783
  • Interest and rents $411,533 3%
    Interest & Dividends $333,328
    Rents & Royalties $78,205
  • Federal grants $363,375 3%
    All Other Federal Aid Grants $363,375
  • From other local governments $250,000 2%
    All Other $250,000
  • Licenses and permits $36,731 <1%
    Business Licenses and Permits $36,731
  • Fines and forfeits $3,988 <1%
    All Fines, Penalties & Forfeits $3,988
  • Borrowing and transfers in $2,657,003 21%
    Proceeds from Bond/Note Issuance $2,577,304
    Transfers In $79,699

"All funds" is the report's total column: the general fund, other governmental funds, enterprise funds such as water and sewer, internal service funds and component units. Its totals include money moved between the government's own funds, and revenue includes money borrowed. Spending per resident is total spending divided by the population shown; the shares are each heading's part of its total. Open a heading to see the lines filed under it.

Population: DashBoard_Metrics (MI Community Financial Dashboard), Michigan Department of Treasury.

Source: FY2025 F65 Village, Michigan Department of Treasury, retrieved November 3, 2026.

Revenue and spending, fiscal years 2017–2025

All funds, as filed each year.

Revenue Spending
The figures as a table
Fiscal year Revenue Spending General fund spending Long-term debt
2025 $12,757,337 $13,340,599 $8,140,464 $6,418,107
2024 $8,204,637 $7,577,128 $2,823,712 $2,645,000
2023 $8,794,369 $7,145,536 $2,884,407 $2,925,000
2022 $6,626,938 $6,091,044 $2,058,375 $3,195,000
2021 $6,530,502 $6,767,151 $2,269,578 $3,460,000
2020 $6,025,174 $5,225,286 $1,940,410 $3,985,000
2019 $6,261,331 $6,179,777 $2,048,823 $4,617,669
2018 $5,912,954 $5,815,634 $1,907,524 $5,190,009
2017 $5,916,993 $5,421,712 $1,998,914 $5,674,567

Each year links to the dataset it comes from. A year with dashes across has no report in the State's data.

Debt, pensions and staff, fiscal year 2025

As reported in the same filing.

Debt and fund balance

Long-term debt at year end
$6,418,107
General fund balance at year end
$2,691,270
Of which unassigned
$2,681,200

Pensions and retiree health care

Unfunded pension liability
$1,630,989
Pension funded, general employees
76.3%
Pension funded, police and fire
—
Unfunded retiree health care (OPEB)
$76,647

Staff

Police
10
Fire
—
Combined public safety
—
All other staff
33
Wages and salaries
$1,931,198

A dash means the State's data has no figure for that line. Its datasets leave out zero amounts in most years, so a dash can also be a zero that was filed. The unfunded pension liability is the filing's "aggregate pension liability" line.

Source: FY2025 F65 Village, Michigan Department of Treasury, retrieved November 3, 2026.

Boards and sub-entities

Authorities and special districts

Boards, commissions and committees

Transparency checks

What this body files with the State and posts online, checked against the law and good practice.

Grade pending

A grade appears once every check below has been read and the site has set its grading scale. Every check counts the same.

Required by law

5 found · 2 not found

  • Found: Audit filed with the State for the latest fiscal year

    Treasury's Document Search shows the audit for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 as received, sent May 27, 2026.

    Uniform Budgeting and Accounting Act, MCL 141.421 et seq.; MCL 141.921 · FY2025 · Read September 27, 2026 from State records · Evidence for Audit filed with the State for the latest fiscal year

  • Found: Audit filed on time

    Sent May 27, 2026, within six months of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (due June 30, 2026; fiscal year end from its F-65).

    Due six months after fiscal year end; MCL 141.921 · FY2025 · Read September 27, 2026 from State records · Evidence for Audit filed on time

  • Found: Annual financial report (F-65) filed with the State

    Treasury's Document Search shows the annual financial report (F-65) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 as received, sent May 29, 2026.

    MCL 141.424(3) · FY2025 · Read September 27, 2026 from State records · Evidence for Annual financial report (F-65) filed with the State

  • Found: Annual financial report (F-65) filed on time

    Sent May 29, 2026, within six months of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (due June 30, 2026; fiscal year end from its F-65).

    Due six months after fiscal year end; MCL 141.424(3) · FY2025 · Read September 27, 2026 from State records · Evidence for Annual financial report (F-65) filed on time

  • Found: Retirement report (Form 5572) filed with the State

    Treasury's FY2025 status report (as of September 18, 2026) does not list it as "No Retirement Submission".

    PA 202 of 2017, MCL 38.2805 · FY2025 · Read September 26, 2026 from State records · Evidence for Retirement report (Form 5572) filed with the State

  • Not found: FOIA procedures and written public summary posted

    Forms and Publications links "Freedom of Information Act Guidelines" and Finance and Transparency links "Village of Sparta FOIA Policy". Opened 2026-09-27: both are the Policy, Procedures & Guidelines adopted June 8, 2015, which say a written summary will be provided, but neither contains one. No summary was found on either page or in the site search. Second reading 2026-09-27: the site's sitemap, which lists every document it posts, has only the policy, guidelines and forms; a web search found no summary.

    MCL 15.234(4) · Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for FOIA procedures and written public summary posted

  • Not found: Retirement report information posted

    Finance & Transparency posts a "2019 Pension & OPEB Report" and GASB 75 OPEB reports for 2020 and 2021, but no PA 202 report for a later year. The latest report due by 2026-09-27 is the one for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 (due June 30, 2026). The second reading (the site's sitemap, and the links on its home and finance pages) found none.

    MCL 38.2805(8) · FY2025 · Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Retirement report information posted

Good practice

5 found · 7 not found

  • Not found: Current budget posted

    Finance and Transparency posts budgets through the "2025 Budget Book & CIP"; no budget for the fiscal year in progress (calendar 2026) was found.

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Current budget posted

  • Found: Budgets for the past three years posted

    Finance and Transparency posts the 2025, 2024 and 2023 budgets (and FY 2022).

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Budgets for the past three years posted

  • Not found: Latest audit posted

    Finance and Transparency posts audits through the "2024 Audit Document"; no audit for a fiscal year ending in 2025 or later was found.

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Latest audit posted

  • Not found: Budget posted as a spreadsheet or data file

    The budgets on Finance and Transparency are PDFs; no spreadsheet or data file was found (the 2019 Pension & OPEB Report in Excel is not a budget).

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Budget posted as a spreadsheet or data file

  • Found: Regular meeting schedule for the year posted

    Village Council says the regular meeting is "at 6:30 pm on the third Monday of each month" and lists the 2026 meeting dates.

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Regular meeting schedule for the year posted

  • Found: Agendas posted for the past 12 months

    Village Council posts a council agenda for every meeting from September 15, 2025 to September 21, 2026.

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Agendas posted for the past 12 months

  • Found: Minutes posted for the past 12 months

    Village Council posts council minutes for every meeting from September 15, 2025 to August 17, 2026.

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Minutes posted for the past 12 months

  • Found: Members' names and a way to contact them posted

    Village Council names the president, president pro tem and five council members, each with an email link.

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Members' names and a way to contact them posted

  • Not found: Check register (payments) posted

    No check register or payments list was found on Finance and Transparency or Forms and Publications.

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Check register (payments) posted

  • Not found: Employee pay or salary schedule posted

    No salary schedule, pay ranges or pay by position was found on the Finance, Village Manager, Staff Directory or Forms and Publications pages.

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Employee pay or salary schedule posted

  • Not found: Current contracts posted

    No list of current contracts or contract in force was found.

    Read September 27, 2026 on its website · Evidence for Current contracts posted

  • Not found: Labor agreements posted

    Its FY2025 audit filed with Treasury says retiree health benefits are provided "under the collective bargaining agreements for union employees", and the Village Manager page says the manager oversees collective bargaining; no labor agreement is posted on the village's site.

    Read September 27, 2026 from State records · Evidence for Labor agreements posted

About

Type
Village

Codes

Census of Governments ID
166712
Census GEOID (place)
2675420
Michigan Treasury unit code
413050

Sources

Where this page's facts come from.

Open Government Project · a nonpartisan, nonprofit project

Every figure comes from a public record, cited on its page.