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Property values jump on tax rolls
(Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal (Tupelo, MS) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Jan. 2--TUPELO -- Home and property owners will pay more in taxes this year after a countywide reassessment boosted property values an average of 20 percent.
Letters alerting the owners to the new fees were mailed in late December, and several people have already complained to the Lee County Tax Collector's office.
"Any time you've got an increase in taxes, no matter what the amount, we always have calls," said Tax Collector Leroy Belk. "And we're always happy to answer questions."
Although city and county leaders did not raise taxes, properties in their jurisdictions were reassessed, as they are every four years. County Tax Assessor Mark Weathers said that despite recently declining home values, properties actually have increased in price since 2004, when the previous assessment was set.
"The hard part is people trying to understand why their properties have gone up the past four years when now they are declining," Weathers said. "The values over the past four years have increased but probably not dramatically -- an average of 20-21 percent."
That properties aren't selling as fast or as expensively has they once were will be factored into the next tax assessment in 2012, Weathers said, explaining that each year in the four-year cycle is considered.
Nearly 20,000 homes and another 20,000 commercial and industrial properties, as well as mobile homes, were reassessed. Owners of properties whose values increased by more than 20 percent received postcards from the tax assessor in May. They had a chance to appeal the amounts during a public hearing in June.
Other property owners discovered the new values in December when the tax collector's office mailed its annual courtesy letters. And though it's harder to appeal the amounts now that the tax rolls are set, it's still possible.
"I'm not going to deny them the right to appeal," Weathers said. "If they think there is a problem with the value, we'll look at it but it's going to be hard to change without proof -- like a recent appraisal, for example."
Among the hardest hit in the recent round of reassessments are the elderly, many of whom for the first time will see their home values surpass the homestead exemption of $75,000.
Belk and Weathers say they support current efforts to raise the exemption to $100,000.
"I feel their pain," Weathers said. "Mine went up, too. But I just want people to know that I don't raise taxes."
The Tupelo City Council, Lee County Board of Supervisors, and the city and county school districts can raise taxes by increasing the millage. Only the Tupelo School District increased its rate this year.
A mill is a tax rate that equals $1 of property taxes for every $1,000 of assessed valuation. Every time the value of the property increases, so does the amount paid toward the mill.
With a few exceptions, Lee County residents will pay 38.66 mills for county services and 62.73 mills for county schools. Tupelo residents will pay the county services tax, plus 33.17 mills for city services and 66.83 for city schools.
Contact Emily Le Coz at (662) 78-1588 or emily.lecoz@djournal.com.
To see more of the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.djournal.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, Tupelo, Miss.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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