Published: April 07, 2007 11:20 pm      

Tax dollar trail

With the recent passage of the Meridian School Bond issue, Meridian residents may see an increase in their property tax bill next year, but where that money goes after the bill is paid is sometimes a mystery to taxpayers.

The money that is collected is broken down into mills, or a rate that is placed upon each dollar of assessed value of property. A mill is worth 1/10 of 1 cent and is the measure used to state the property tax rate.

“There are five taxing authorities in Lauderdale County — the city of Meridian, the town of Marion, Lauderdale County, Lauderdale County Schools and Meridian Public Schools,” said County Tax Assessor Jimmy Slay.

The passage of the school bond — which is set to fund school repairs and to build a new ninth-grade facility at Meridian High School — means Meridian residents and those that reside in the Meridian Separate School District will see a 5.83 mill increase on their property tax bill. The bond issue passed with 71 percent of the votes.

Preliminary estimates concerning repayment of the school bond would cause taxes on a $100,000 home to go up $58.30. For people with special homestead exemption (those who are over 65 or disabled) will see an increase of $14.58.

But those figures aren’t set in stone.

Lauderdale County Tax Collector Stanley Shannon said taxes could go up, or even possibly go down, depending on next year’s budget requests.

Any of the five taxing bodies in Lauderdale County could raise or lower their millage rate depending on their particular needs, and those changes could affect the overall property tax levy for city and county residents. The total tax increase, or decrease, you may see on your property tax bill will not be certain until the fall, when all taxing entities craft their budgets.

The Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors raised the millage rate last year from 49.62 mills to 52.56 mills to repay bonds that were issued to aid construction of new industries in Lauderdale County. That meant that city residents, who also pay county taxes, saw an increase of 45.45 mills to 47.67 mills.

Lauderdale County Schools raised millage last year from 52.11 mills to 52.68 mills but Meridian Public Schools lowered its millage rate from 63.65 mills to 62.87 mills. The city of Meridian’s millage rate remained steady at 50.08 mills.

Property taxes are used to fund public libraries, the Pat Harrison Waterway, the general fund, maintenance and construction of bridges and roads, school, bond repayments and a variety of other services.

But how does Meridian and Lauderdale County compare to other cities and counties across the state?

Lauderdale County has a tax levy of 105.24 mills compared to 109.61 mills in Hinds County, where Jackson is located. In Lee County — home of Tupelo — the millage rate is 98.44 mills and Lamar County (Hattiesburg) has a millage rate of 104.66 mills, which includes 8.71 mills to repay a school bond issue.

Warren County (Vicksburg) and Washington County (Greenville) each have millage rates that are higher than Lauderdale County at 135.71 mills and 117.04 mills respectively.

Lee County had the lowest millage rate of the counties surveyed by The Meridian Star. Mark Weathers, tax assessor, said the county is able to keep the millage rate low because they spend their money wisely.

“The main reason is we have good leadership, good community ties and we all really work together as a county,”

Weathers said members of the Lee County Board of Supervisors sit down with the mayor and other city and county leaders once a month and talk about the needs in the county. He said he believes those discussions have a direct result on the millage rate.

Hinds County had the highest millage rate at 109.61 mills, which includes Hinds County Schools, but for just county operations, its millage rate is lower than Lauderdale County by 6.19 mills.

Tax Assessor Slay said he doesn’t believe Lauderdale County’s millage rate is exceptionally high.

“I find it interesting that Lee County’s millage rate is considerably lower that Lauderdale County and that our county millage rate is higher than Hinds,” Slay said. “But it depends on the tax base. If you don’t have much to tax, you have to set a millage rate high enough to generate the money you need for the services you provide.”