Despite a drop in assessed personal property values, Warren County will see a more than $2 million increase in property tax assessments, Tax Assessor Ben Luckett said.

“We should be ahead $2,844,577,” he said Thursday. “That’s (total) assessed value. That’s what they’re going to base their budget off of — the assessed value.”

Luckett’s comments follow a Wednesday meeting of the Warren County Board of Supervisors where he presented the county tax rolls to the board. The supervisors are equalizing the tax rolls before presenting them for public view.

“On the real property side, we had $2,563,639,089 in true value, which is $323,748,937 assessed value,” he told the board. “That is roughly a $32,033,496 increase on the true side, and a $3,863,936 on the assessed.”

Luckett said about 50 businesses closed during the 2017 fiscal year, affecting the personal property rolls. Personal property includes items like machinery and equipment.

“The value of personal property true value is $836,999,638 with an assessed value of $125,549, 994, which is about a $1,018,359 reduction (from last year),” he said. “We’re about even, but we had 50 businesses that are not in business any more.”

The board also learned A.E. Boyer LLC of Hattiesburg, the contractor for a project to realign and pave Henry Lake Road, expects to begin work on the project Monday.

John McKee of Stantec, the county engineer, provided the information after the board approved a list of subcontractors for the $1.24 million state aid road project, which is paid by state funds.

Under the project, the road will be paved, and some sections of the road will be moved to adjust for the relocation of utilities and other sections will get a new road bed to help bring the road up to state aid standards.