Leflore County is not planning to increase its property tax rate for the next budget year.
School taxes, however, will most likely be going up.
The new tax rate for the Greenwood Leflore Consolidated School District would be 44.69 mills, up 2.7% from the current rate of 43.51 mills, under the district’s proposed $66.1 million budget. A mill is equal to $1 of tax for each $1,000 of assessed value.
At the proposed rate, the school taxes on a $100,000 owner-occupied home would go up $11.80 a year; on a $30,000 automobile, the increase would be $10.62.
Leflore County and the school district were already in line to get a boost in revenue from the countywide reappraisal that was completed this year. Counties are required by state law to reappraise property to reflect current values every four years.
The process resulted in an overall increase of 1% in appraised values on property taxed for county government operations, and 2.8% more in appraised values on property taxed for schools. The difference is caused by the tax breaks often given to manufacturers for relocations or expansions. Those exemptions do not apply to school taxes.
When the reappraisal and the tax-rate adjustment are considered together, the result is nearly 5.6% more in local school taxes, which account for roughly one-fifth of the school district’s revenue. The rest comes from state and federal sources.
The Board of Supervisors only sets the millage rate for school taxes. It has no legal authority to adjust the amount of tax increase sought by the school district.
District 5 Supervisor Robert Collins, who has complained before about what have become annual increases in school taxes, said he was not happy about the latest hike coming from the school district.
“They’re going to have to find a way to stop doing it,” Collins said. “I think they’re doing it just because they can do it. I don’t think they realize the impact of it” on taxpayers.
He noted the large amounts of coronavirus relief money — a combined $54.6 million from three rounds of funding — the district has been appropriated by Congress during the pandemic.
“You know you could have moved that around some way,” Collins said.
“I think they just think taxes pop up from everywhere.”
The city of Greenwood has previously announced that it plans to increase property tax rates by 4%. City officials have said the increase is necessary to help pay back money borrowed in 2019 to repave city streets and to cover an estimated $600,000 jump in health insurance costs for city employees.
A hearing on the county’s proposed budget will be held at 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at the Leflore County Courthouse. The budget year begins Oct. 1.
– Contact Tim Kalich at 662-581-7243 or [email protected].