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- Property values are to reflect “true value.” Some counties, like DeSoto, assess below the 85% standard in place since at least 2007. Local officials will weigh costs of complying with the benchmark.
State Representative Dan Eubanks, a Republican from DeSoto County, sent an email to supporters late last week saying there was “a storm brewing in Mississippi.”
“…I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but almost everyone in the state is about to see their property taxes take a huge leap up,” Eubanks claimed, noting an administrative directive from the Mississippi Department of Revenue (DOR) to county tax assessors.
Eubanks told readers that if not for his county officials sending out a notice, he and other residents would not have been aware of the property value reassessment that is aimed at ensuring assessments are based on its “true value.”
“True value” is defined in Mississippi Code §27-35-50 as “market value, cash value, actual cash value, proper value and value for the purposes of appraisal for ad valorem taxation.”
The DeSoto County Tax Assessor Jeff Fitch presented the new assessments to their Board of Supervisors earlier this month.
“The Mississippi Department of Revenue has mandated that we change our pricing manuals as well as change our index to get closer to the fair market value,” Fitch told the Supervisors. “Where we were running 56 percent of market value before, they wanted us at least 85 percent of market value. So, we had to make those changes for the 2025 tax year.”
However, a spokesperson for DOR told Magnolia Tribune that the department has not issued “a new mandate or directive” instructing county tax assessors to raise property valuations to 85 percent or 100 percent of market value, as some have claimed.
“Regarding the notion of a notice to county assessors: there was no formal directive issued recently,” a DOR spokesperson said Monday. “The most relevant communication would have been the release of the updated assessment manual in 2020, which incorporated inflation adjustments and updated industrial rates.”
DOR said the updates are part of a regular cycle of revisions to ensure valuation tools remain current and accurate.
“The requirement to assess property at market value has long been a foundational principle of Mississippi’s property tax system, as established in Mississippi Code §27-35-50,” a DOR spokesperson said Monday.
DOR added that the 85 percent threshold being referenced is part of a longstanding performance standard used in assessment ratio studies conducted by the department to evaluate the accuracy of county assessments.
“This standard has been in place since at least 2007. It is not a new policy, but rather a continuation of existing compliance benchmarks,” the DOR spokesperson said.
According to the department, no spreadsheet exists showing the percentage of appraised value being used by the state’s 82 counties.
Rep. Eubanks went on to claim that DOR told local officials that they must get their assessments up to fair value or risk losing state-funded homestead exemption reimbursements.
The DOR spokesperson said as required by Mississippi Code § 27-35-113, if a county fails their audit because of not being in compliance, they must submit a plan to DOR for approval on how they will achieve compliance.
“If the county fails to become compliant within two years, the law states that their homestead reimbursements must be held in escrow until compliance is achieved,” the spokesperson noted.
DOR also noted that while appraised values may increase due to market conditions, local taxing authorities – cities, counties and school districts – retain full discretion to adjust millage rates to offset those increases.
“This means that any potential rise in property taxes is not automatic and can be mitigated at the local level,” the DOR spokesperson stated.
On this point, Rep. Eubanks agreed. He told readers that local leaders have the power to adjust millage rates down to compensate or offset any increase in revenue that they might otherwise experience from this reassessment.
“Many of them will tell you that they have no choice but to raise the assessment value of your property (true),” Eubanks wrote. “As a result, this raise will increase the amount of taxes you will now have to pay (also true). Never forget though, that they are the ones who set the millage rate.”
According to DeSoto County, Supervisors there said they were committed to making the increases minimal. The Supervisors noted that they would consider reducing the millage rate in order to minimize the tax burden on residents as much as possible that resulted from the increased assessments.
Should property owners believe the reassessments are inaccurate, they can contact their county tax assessor’s office to challenge the value.
