Warren County has asked the state for more time to assess the taxable value of homes, businesses and farmland and file complete land rolls with the Board of Supervisors, despite no language in state law to accommodate the request, according to the Mississippi Department of Revenue.

The agency is “in conversation” with Tax Assessor Angela Brown to extend the process past the first Monday in July, said Kathy Waterbury, director of communications for DOR, adding the law “does not allow for an extension of time.”

Assessors in Mississippi “shall complete the assessment of both real and personal property and file the roll or rolls with the clerk of the board of supervisors on or before the first Monday in July of each year,” the law states.

The law calls for Boards of Supervisors in the state to meet on that Monday to start equalizing the rolls, usually over several days, then make tax rolls available for people to view. From there, property owners have 30 days to formally object to listed appraisals. Supervisors may accept whatever appraisal the assessor has calculated or review it based on a taxpayer’s objection.

Brown hired three employees last week to coordinate homestead filings and process property appraisal figures after all office staff except for Brown retired, quit or were fired since her Nov. 8 election. Brown outpolled three opponents, including former field appraiser Ben Luckett, one of three dismissed last week.

Officials from the Humphreys County Tax Assessor’s Office have tutored the new employees this week. Former assessor Richard Holland and former deputy assessor Jim Agent retired at the end of 2011; both had announced their decisions a year ago.

Also, the state agency expects to advise the office on contracting out certain functions of the office. Brown has said she has sent a letter to DOR asking for guidance to that effect. Boards of supervisors or county tax assessors may hire a private consultant to appraise property in Mississippi. No public request for such proposals has been made in Warren County this week.

Contracting out certain functions of tax assessors’ offices is commonplace across the state, Waterbury said.

“A number of smaller counties don’t have sufficient staff to do this,” Waterbury said.

When directed by either county boards or assessors, state law says private firms must have at least five years’ experience in appraising land, homes, businesses and personal property, which are assets not fixed to land such as inventory held by businesses. A contractor also must be a certified appraiser and hold an assessment evaluator designation before a bid is placed, the law says. Such programs are administered by DOR, the Center for Governmental Technology at Mississippi State University and the Mississippi Assessors and Collectors Association. 

Appraising real property is contracted out by 53 of the state’s 82 counties, while 59 hire outside firms to appraise personal property, according to DOR. Sixty counties outsource mapping, according to DOR. Proposals are pending in Warren County for new digital photos for tax-mapping purposes.

A private firm appraises personal property in Rankin County. Hinds and Madison counties do everything in-house. In Copiah County, mapping and personal property is handled by an outside firm, but real property is done in-house. Claiborne, Issaquena and Yazoo contract all three functions.

DOR does not recommend a specific contractor when counties ask for help, but provides guidelines and information on what education and certifications that qualified contractors must meet, Waterbury said.

About 25 to 30 qualified contractors appraise property in Mississippi.