By By Sheila Blackmon/The Meridian Star
July 3, 2001
With new homes and businesses being built, total property values in Lauderdale County are higher this year than last year, Tax Assessor Jimmy Slay said Monday.
The value of personal property is up 4 percent and real property is up 3 percent, he said.
Slay said his comments were based on an annual recapitulation, or re-cap, of the values of automobiles, mobile homes, personal property and real property in the county. He made his report to the Lauderdale County board of supervisors.
Real property is land and improvements, such as the construction of buildings, he said. Personal property is furniture, fixtures, machinery, equipment and inventory.
Slay said 246 new homes were built in Lauderdale County last year for a total true value of $24,935,500, which is a "positive indicator of good things happening in Lauderdale County."
He said there are 2,252 businesses on the business personal property roll. He told supervisors he didn't have a total yet of new businesses, but said they would be "amazed at the number of new businesses" in the county.
The millage rate hasn't dropped with new growth, but it has been maintained over the past seven or eight years, Hiatt said.
Slay said the true value of business personal property is at $361,245,007 and the true value of land and structures, both residential and commercial is at $1,831,253,717.
Board attorney Rick Barry said supervisors must meet and equalize taxes which they plan to do at their July 19th work session then give people a 10-day notice in which to file an objection to their assessed property value at supervisors' Aug. 6 meeting.
Supervisors will set the tax levy based on the final numbers and adopt the county budget by Sept. 15, Hiatt said.
Individual property values are likely to increase next year when an ongoing state-mandated reappraisal process is complete. New values will be updated based on current market value.
Sheila Blackmon is a staff writer for The Meridian Star. Call her at 693-1551, ext. 3275, or e-mail her at sblackmon@themeridianstar.com.