Newton County is expecting to collect more property taxes next year as the assessed valuations for 2019-20 show a rise of almost $3 million in property values.
In a regularly scheduled meeting Thursday, Tax Assessor May Bender told the board the increases were in large part due to expansion projects at ESCO/Weir and Biewer Lumber.
“On these numbers, what does that mean for us per beat?” Supervisor Joe Alexander asked.
Bender said the majority of the funding would go to Beat 1, which is where ESCO/Weir and Biewer are located. The other beats may see a slight increase, she said, but not much.
Additionally, Bender said, tax exemptions and in-lieu-of agreements between the county and the two businesses will reduce the amount of taxes the county collects.
“You’ll only get about a third,” she said. “This is just assessed values.”
Assessed values are a percentage of appraisal values and are used in calculating property taxes. In Mississippi, assessed values are 10 percent for residential property and 15 percent for commercial property. For example, a home valued at $100,000 would have an assessed value of $10,000.
In other business, County Administrator Steve Seale said the board received notice forfeited Local System Bridge Project funds were being made available for counties to apply for.
“They were funds recently forfeited by counties,” he said. “The Office of State Aid is making the funds available for all counties wishing to apply for them.”
Seale said the letter did not specify how much money was available but noted the applications would be online for counties to fill out.
“It may be something you need to talk with Duane (Stanford) about,” he said.
