By Staff
RE-APPRAISAL n Appraisers say senior citizens will be hit hardest by the 2002 property re-appraisal now under way in Lauderdale County. Photo by Carl Crocker/The Meridian Star.
By Sheila Blackmon/The Meridian Star
Dec. 23, 3000
Tri-State Mapping and Appraisal Service officials say Lauderdale County's property re-appraisal is going to hit senior citizens hard. Many will no longer qualify for homestead exemptions on the full value of their homes.
Lauderdale County officials hired Tri-State to help with the state-required, countywide reappraisal expected to be complete in 2002.
In this example, a homeowner 65 years old would pay taxes on $20,000 of the assessed value of his home the portion of the value that exceeds $60,000. Prior to the re-appraisal, he would have been exempt because the home was worth less than $60,000.
Tri-State appraisers recently completed reappraisals in Harrison County. Biles said a number of people attending public hearings at the end of the process because they no longer qualified for homestead exemptions on the full value of their homes.
Lauderdale County Tax Assessor Jimmy Slay is a member of the Legislative Committee of the Mississippi Assessors and Collectors Association.
State Rep. Charles Young, D-Meridian, said he would support such a bill.
As far as county revenue, there is a 10 percent cap the county can receive in new revenue from a re-valuation of property.
Biles said there is no way to determine how much the new values will affect people's taxes until the new values are in place and that's 18 months away.
People are required to come to the tax assessor's office to file for homestead exemption. Filing begins Jan. 2 and the last day to apply is March 30.
Sheila Blackmon is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. E-mail her at sblackmon@themeridianstar.com.