Mississippi Forestry Resources

Mississippi Code, Title 27, Chapter 35
Ad Valorem Taxes - Assessment

§ 27-35-4. Rates of assessment. 

(1) All Class I property, as defined in Section 112, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, shall be assessed at the rate of ten percent (10%) of true value. 

(2) All Class II property and Class III property, as defined in Section 112, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, shall be assessed at the rate of fifteen percent (15%) of true value. 

(3) All Class IV property and Class V property, as defined in Section 112, Mississippi Constitution of 1890, shall be assessed at the rate of thirty percent (30%) of true value. 

Sources: Laws, 1984, ch. 355, § 1; Laws, 1986, ch. 447, eff from and after June 19, 1986.

§ 27-35-49. Assessment of lands; appraisal according to true value.

It shall be the duty of the tax assessor to assess all the lands in his county and he shall require the owner, agent, or person having possession, or charge, of any lands, to render a list of all lands owned, or in charge, or in possession, of such owner, agent or person, and land shall be appraised according to its true value and assessed in proportion thereto, taking into consideration the improvements thereon. 

Every person owning or being in possession, or in charge, of any land shall deliver to the tax assessor on demand, and in any event, not later than April first in each year, a list of all lands owned by, or in possession, or in charge, made out on the tax lists prescribed; and showing the total number of acres (except the land be platted by blocks and lots), the total number of acres of cultivatable lands and the value thereof, and the number of acres of uncultivatable land and the value thereof and the number of acres devoted to agricultural purposes as of January 1 of each year; and buildings or improvements subject to taxation on any lands returned for assessment. If the lands be surveyed and platted, it shall be returned so as to clearly identify it by the recorded plat thereof, and the list rendered shall disclose the value of each lot and the value of any buildings, structures, or improvements thereon. Any person required by this section to render a list of any lands shall show in what road district, school district, levee district, municipality, or other taxing district, the same is located. If any person shall deliver or disclose to an assessor, or deputy assessor, a list, statement or return in regard to his land which, in the opinion of the assessor, or deputy assessor, is false or fraudulent, or contains any understatement or undervaluation, or fails to show the proper classification of lands, or fails to show buildings and improvements, or other elements of value, the assessor shall make an assessment of the land with the proper classification thereof including the omitted things, at a valuation equal to the value at which like lands similarly situated are assessed. Lands not given in by any person shall be assessed in the same manner by the assessor at a valuation equal to the assessment of other like lands similarly situated and all buildings and improvements, or other elements of value shall in all cases be separately valued and assessed. 

Sources: Codes, Hutchinson's 1848, ch. 8, art 17 (13); 1857, ch. 3, art 18; 1871, § 1675; 1880, § 489; 1892, § 3772; Laws, 1906, § 4281; Hemingway's 1917, § 6915; Laws, 1930, § 3145; Laws, 1942, § 9769; Laws, 1928, Ex ch. 58; Laws, 1950, ch. 298, § 2; Laws, 1980, ch. 505, § 8; Laws, 1998, ch. 454, § 1, eff from and after July 1, 1998.

§ 27-35-50. Determination of true value for purposes of assessment.

(1) True value shall mean and include, but shall not be limited to, market value, cash value, actual cash value, proper value and value for the purposes of appraisal for ad valorem taxation.

(2) With respect to each and every parcel of property subject to assessment, the tax assessor shall, in ascertaining true value, consider whenever possible the income capitalization approach to value, the cost approach to value and the market data approach to value, as such approaches are determined by the State Tax Commission. For differing types of categories of property, differing approaches may be appropriate. The choice of the particular valuation approach or approaches to be used should be made by the assessor upon a consideration of the category or nature of the property, the approaches to value for which the highest quality data is available, and the current use of the property.

(3) Except as otherwise provided in subsection (4) of this section, in determining the true value of land and improvements thereon, factors to be taken into consideration are the proximity to navigation; to a highway; to a railroad; to a city, town, village or road; and any other circumstances that tend to affect its value, and not what it might bring at a forced sale but what the owner would be willing to accept and would expect to receive for it if he were disposed to sell it to another able and willing to buy.

(4) In arriving at the true value of all Class I and Class II property and improvements, the appraisal shall be made according to current use, regardless of location.

In arriving at the true value of any land used for agricultural purposes, the appraisal shall be made according to its use on January 1 of each year, regardless of its location; in making the appraisal, the assessor shall use soil types, productivity and other criteria set forth in the land appraisal manuals of the State Tax Commission, which criteria shall include, but not be limited to, an income capitalization approach with a capitalization rate of not less than ten percent (10%) and a moving average of not more than ten (10) years. However, for the year 1990, the moving average shall not be more than five (5) years; for the year 1991, not more than six (6) years; for the year 1992, not more than seven (7) years; for the year 1993, not more than eight (8) years; and for the year 1994, not more than nine (9) years; and for the year 1990, the variation up or down from the previous year shall not exceed twenty percent (20%) and thereafter, the variation, up or down, from a previous year shall not exceed ten percent (10%). The land shall be deemed to be used for agricultural purposes when it is devoted to the commercial production of crops and other commercial products of the soil, including, but not limited to, the production of fruits and timber or the raising of livestock and poultry; provided, however, enrollment in the federal Conservation Reserve Program or in any other United States Department of Agriculture conservation program shall not preclude land being deemed to be used for agricultural purposes solely on the ground that the land is not being devoted to the production of commercial products of the soil, and income derived from participation in the federal program may be used in combination with other relevant criteria to determine the true value of such land.

In determining the true value based upon current use, no consideration shall be taken of the prospective value such property might have if it were put to some other possible use.

(5) The true value of each class of property shall be determined annually.

(6) The State Tax Commission shall have the power to adopt, amend or repeal such rules or regulations in a manner consistent with the Constitution of the State of Mississippi to implement the duties assigned to the commission in this section.

Sources: Laws, 1980, ch. 505, § 9; Laws, 1986, ch. 447; Laws, 1987, ch. 507, § 3; Laws, 1990, ch. 560, § 1; Laws, 1998, ch. 454, § 2, eff from and after July 1, 1998.

§ 27-35-51. Buildings, minerals, etc., separately owned.

Whenever any buildings, improvements or structures, mineral, gas, oil, timber or similar interests in real estate, including building permits or reservations, are owned separately and apart from and independently of the rights and interests owned in the surface of such real estate, or when any person reserves any right or interest, or has any leasehold in the elements above enumerated, all of such interests shall be assessed and taxed separately from such surface rights and interests in said real estate, and shall be sold for taxes in the same manner and with the same effect as other interests in real estate are sold for taxes. All interests in real estate herein enumerated shall be returned to the tax assessor within the same time and in the same manner as the owners of land are now required by law to list lands for assessment and taxation and under like penalties. The tax assessor shall enter the assessment of the interests herein enumerated upon the assessment roll by entering the same upon the next succeeding line or lines of the roll following the assessment of the surface owner, the name of the owner and the name of the interest, and by placing the value in the appropriate column or columns on the roll; or the assessor may enter the assessment of any or all of such interests upon a page or pages in the land roll following the assessment of the lands of the county, and the value of all such interests shall be included in the recapitulation of the roll. And the value of said interest or interests shall be determined and fixed in the same manner and by the same officials now required by law to value and assess property for taxation.

Sources: Codes, 1930 § 3146; Laws, 1942, § 9770; Laws, 1930, ch. 171; Laws, 1932, ch. 185.

§ 27-35-99. Assessments; timber estimators may be employed by supervisors.

The board of supervisors of any county in the State of Mississippi are hereby authorized, in their discretion, to employ a timber estimator or timber estimators, as such board of supervisors may deem necessary, to estimate any timber, or to ascertain the quantity and quality of any timber, which may be subject to assessment for taxes under the laws of the State of Mississippi at any time it may become necessary for any board of supervisors to have correct information as to estimates of timber, or correct information as to the quantity and quality of any timber taxable under the laws of the state, in order that such board of supervisors may correctly equalize assessments, and correctly perform the duties required of them with reference to the assessment of property; or at any time it may become necessary for any such board of supervisors to have correct timber estimates or correct information as to the quantity and quality of any taxable timber, for use as evidence in defending any litigation in any court, in which the assessment of any such timber may be contested or attacked, or the collection of taxes thereon may be delayed or prevented.

Sources: Codes, Hemingway's 1921 Supp. § 3811f; Laws, 1930, § 3169; Laws, 1942, § 9793; Laws, 1917, ch. 43; Laws, 1918, ch. 185.

§ 27-35-101. Surveys and appraisals authorized.

The board of supervisors of any county in this state is hereby authorized in its discretion, to have the cultivatable, uncultivatable, or timbered lands of any owner, or of the entire county or any part thereof, surveyed and the acreage thereof determined and the value of the lands and of any timber, buildings or improvements thereon appraised by a competent person or persons, to be selected by the board of supervisors, the cost thereof to be paid from the general county fund. The board of supervisors of any county is hereby authorized to have the lots and blocks or other tracts in the municipalities of the county surveyed and the area determined, and the valuation thereof and of any buildings, structures, or other improvements thereon, appraised for the purpose of taxation in the same manner and at the same time that lands outside of municipalities are surveyed and appraised. In case a survey and appraisal is ordered, at least thirty (30) days' notice by publication shall be given and competitive bids received for the work. When such survey and appraisal is made, a permanent record thereof shall be made and preserved by the clerk of the board of supervisors, to which the tax assessor of the county shall at all times have access.

The board of supervisors of any county in this state having within its boundaries a municipality with a population in excess of one hundred fifty thousand (150,000) according to the latest federal census, is authorized to secure from such municipality surveys, appraisals and related materials made or caused to be made by it for the valuation for assessment purposes of property located in such municipality, and to pay to such municipality therefor out of the general county fund such sum or sums as may be agreed upon between such board of supervisors and the governing authorities of such municipality, all of which may be done without the necessity of publication of notice for or the reception of bids.

Sources: Codes, 1930, § 3170; Laws, 1942, § 9794; Laws, 1922, ch. 267; Laws, 1972, ch. 391, § 1, eff from and after passage (approved April 26, 1972).