Marshall County lowers tax levy for FY 2025-2026
Reports have been made that there is a mandated 20% to 30% property tax increase in Mississippi by the Department of Revenue (DOR). That statement is not completely fair, according to County Administrator Tim Powell. DOR does not dictate property values, instead they require, per state law, that a county reassess every parcel on the land roll at least once every 4 years to stay in line with the surrounding market values.
State law requires property valuation at market/appraised value and that valuation is determined by the county tax assessor’s office for each parcel listed on the tax roll in order to compute ad valorem taxes on real property. Typically, Marshall County evaluates one fourth of the county’s parcels each year along with any new additions in order to cover the entire county once every 4 years, Powell said.
Appraised property value is not the tax bill on a property. Marshall County has taken several measures to offset increases in appraised value for the upcoming year, Powell said. A county can lower the millage rate to offset increases in appraised value for its tax payers. Individual homeowner’s property valuations increase will be a driving factor in their tax bill, but dropping millage by the county will help relieve at least some of that burden, he said.
The Marshall County Board of Supervisors dropped the millage rate by 10.51 mills in the new tax levy that was set at the September 15 meeting of the Board of Supervisors. The tax levy last year was 118.67 mills for the county millage and decreased to 108.16 for the upcoming tax year, Powell said. He explained that property taxes are computed by multiplying the assessed value of a property times the millage rate for the area in which a person lives. Millage rates for a taxpayer are determined based on which tax district a person lives in. The tax districts break down whether a tax payer lives in a city or the county and which school district is available to the household.
Assessed value is determined by a percentage of the property’s market/appraised value set by the tax assessor’s office, with 10% being assessed if the property has a homestead exemption filed and 15% is the property does not. For example, if a property has a market/appraised value of $100,000 and has the homestead exemption, then the assessed value of that property is $10,000 or 10% of the appraised value. To compute the tax on the property, the assessed value is then multiplied by the millage set for that particular tax district. This ensures a person is paying only for services available to him/her. The millage rate will be 108.16 for taxpayers living outside municipal areas.
Marshall County Board of Supervisors decided to decrease the county millage by 8 mills, 3 in the general county millage and 5 in road and bridge millage to offset the reassessment values that are increasing due to the market. These increases in property values also allowed the county school millage to decrease by 2.51 mills, even with an increase in their request by the maximum 7%. This allowed a total decrease in millage by 10.51 mills for the 2025-2026 fiscal year.
Some of the benefits received indirectly by the increases in appraisal/market values in the county as a result of industrial and commercial growth are services – free garbage pickup, increased number of ambulances housed in the county and increased fire protection. The county has been able to build a new medic station in Chulahoma and remodel an existing building in Mt. Pleasant, as well as a new Fire/EMS center in the Trail, Powell said.
Other benefits that may not be as visible to the taxpayer are the new Youth Court Building to serve children, new zoning/EMA/911/Veteran Affairs complex on J.M. Ash Drive, repairs on the courthouse windows and floors, a new jail and new justice court center, Powell cited as examples.
There have been increased funding for roads and bridges meaning that residents will not have to drive over unsafe roads and bridges that would otherwise tear up their vehicles.
The county has let a contract to build a new Medic Station 1 with a coroner’s office behind the old jail, which means the ambulance service will be closer to living in the center of the district.
“Did your taxes increase?” Powell asked. “Not unless your property values increased.” The 10.51 mill decrease in the tax levy is there to help the taxpayer by relieving some of the burden of the increase in appraisal values this year.
Powell added, “It is a very good time to be in Marshall County right now.” Property values are increasing due to the economic growth in the industrial parks, which is bringing good paying jobs and increased services to the county as well.