NATCHEZ, Miss. – Adams County supervisors said they want to reduce property taxes after the large increases Adams County property owners endured this past year.
“Everybody got hit pretty hard last year – including me,” Adams County Supervisor Kevin Wilson said.
“I hope we don’t have another year like that,” said Supervisor Ricky Gray, referring to the 2025 tax and budget process that county officials conducted without fully understanding how increased values of Adams County properties would fuel higher taxes. “Now that you know better, you got to do better.”
As the Board of Supervisors prepares the county budget and property tax rates to adopt in September, it heard several landowners’ objections and concerns Monday about their assessed property values and taxes to be paid in the coming year.
“This year we’re going to watch that more closely,” said Wilson, pointing to the tax millage rate the board sets that helps determine the amount of property taxes due next February.
He said the board should try to reduce the county’s millage rate, which is the basis of calculating taxes tied to individual properties’ assessed value. Surplus tax revenues from this year, he noted, could help reduce tax bills next year.
The public hearing the board held Monday allowed taxpayers to question property assessments and make their case for any needed corrections or clarifications. About a dozen people spoke up. Supervisors will consider objections before the county tax roll is finalized. The actual amount of taxes each property owner is billed won’t be known until later this year after the board sets the millage rate and adopts the budget funding county government for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.
For the fiscal year that began last October, Adams County government had a budget of $43 million that included about $20 million in property tax revenues.
The tax bills landholders received for this year caused sticker shock for many in Natchez-Adams County, prompting complaints about property taxes going up by 25 percent or more.
Alarms included those raised by Natchez Mayor Dan Gibson, who maintained properties have been overvalued by the county tax assessor’s appraisers. The mayor and the Natchez Board of Aldermen in February asked Adams County officials to provide details about the process and formula used in determining the market value of properties that are taxed.
The tax bill each property holder gets is the combined total owed to Natchez, Adams County and the Natchez-Adams School District.
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