Warren County’s policy on property tax abatements figures to stay as-is as supervisors mull how they could have allowed two such tax breaks a few years ago that might violate the existing ordinance.

Research ordered by supervisors following a July 21 public hearing to hear comments on the future of the abatement program showed nine properties on the books approved for the reduced taxes between now and 2021. Of those, two of them — The Valley, 1423 Washington St., and 1509 Washington St., once home to Sears and Super Ten, among other stores, were OK’d for abatements in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

The issue? Both feature rental units that might constitute multifamily living space, which is barred for the purposes of the abatement program, according to the county’s current ordinance adopted in 2005. Supervisors said this week they’d ask board attorney Marcie Southerland for a legal opinion on the matter.

“Why did we do the Vicksburg Valley?” asked a bewildered Board President Bill Lauderdale during discussions Monday on the topic. “We need to find out quickly.”

Incumbent supervisors Lauderdale, Richard George, Charles Selmon and William Banks were on the board when each property’s application for abatements was approved. District 1 Supervisor John Arnold was inaugurated in 2012.

The board gave no timetable for a decision after the hearing.A consensus to wait prevailed again this week.

“Do you want to talk about a future ordinance in this sitting?,” County Administrator John Smith asked the board during talks on Monday.

“We need to know what we’re talking about before we start talking,” Lauderdale advised.

The county’s abatement program is good for seven years on commercial properties whose owners remodel or otherwise improve their buildings and already have an abatement in hand from the city. It differs from the city’s policy in that it doesn’t include multifamily structures and says the property must have been redeveloped by demolition. It sets a minimum investment for a seven-year abatement at $300,000 and excludes, though does not define, routine maintenance. It does not define a multifamily structure for the purposes of the program.

State law specifies central business districts, historic preservation districts, business improvement districts, urban renewal districts and historic landmarks as areas where the exemptions are legal. Cities are given the latitude to define each as they see fit.

Two of the properties with abated county taxes include George Carr Buick Pontiac GMC and Atwood Chevrolet. Each had received abatements from Vicksburg officials on city taxes in 2012. Approvals for each spurred concern by bed-and-breakfast owners that the program’s focus would shift away from the Vicksburg’s historic district, which provided much of the impetus for the hearing.

The other five structures with county tax abatements are 1519 Washington St., owned by former mayoral candidate Daryl Hollingsworth; 1116 Crawford St., which is the historic Luckett Compound, owned by 3Penny Holdings LLC; 2460 South Frontage Road, which is Vicksburg Insurance, owned by Daniel P. Waring III; 1022 Monroe St., which is the Bazinsky House, owned by David Mitchell; and part of McDonald’s at Clay and Mission 66 that was renovated in 2012.