35 Miss. Admin. Code Pt. VI, Subpt. 2, Ch. 04 — Appraisals by Private Firms and Consultants

100 The work of a private firm contracting with any county of the State of Mississippi for the
reappraisal of property or for property appraisal updates to be performed under the
direction of the county tax assessor in connection the assessment of Mississippi Ad
Valorem taxes must be performed under the direction of a field supervisor with the
following experience and professional certifications:

# 1.

Not less than five years experience in mass appraisal of land, residences,
commercial property and personal property as an appraiser or supervisor. The
experience requirements may be met in total within five years if the individual had
responsibility in all four areas of mass appraisal. Private firms contracting solely for
the purpose of performing real property appraisals shall not be required to have
experience with appraisal of personal property but shall be required to have not less
than five years experience with the mass appraisal of land, residences and
commercial property. Private firms contracting solely for the purpose of
performing personal property appraisals shall not be required to have experience
with appraisal of land, residences and commercial property but shall be required to
have not less than five years experience with the mass appraisal of personal
property

# 2.

Additionally, such person must have obtained the Certified Appraiser certification
and an Assessor Evaluator II designation prior to placing a performance bid. To
perform contracts beginning on or after October 1, 2007, such person must have a
Mississippi Assessment Evaluator (MAE) certification. Certified Appraiser, AE1,
AE2 and MAE are certifications of the Mississippi Education and Certification
program which is a joint effort of the Mississippi State Tax Commission, the Center
for Governmental Technology at Mississippi State University and the Mississippi
Assessors and Collectors Association.
101 Each person employed or otherwise engaged to appraise property under the direction of
the field supervisor described above shall be certified by the Mississippi State Tax
Commission as a Certified Appraiser. New employees hired to work for the firm must
attain certification by the ending date of the first certification school held after the hiring
of the employee. Until certified, the new employee must work daily with an appraiser
certified by the State Tax Commission.
102 When a private consultant is hired to perform certain functions of the work of reappraisal
of property or property appraisal updates and the work is to be performed under the
direction of the county tax assessor, the private consultant and each person employed or
otherwise engaged by such private consultant to appraise property shall be certified by
the Mississippi State Tax Commission as a Certified Appraiser.
103 When a private firm is hired by the Board of Supervisors of any county of the State of
Mississippi for the reappraisal of property or for property appraisal updates and the work
is not performed under the direction of the county tax assessor, all personnel employed
or otherwise engaged by the private firm to appraise property shall be under the direction
of a field supervisor who is a state certified real estate appraiser as defined in Section 73 -
34-3 of the Mississippi Code of 1972. When a private consultant is hired by the Board of
Supervisors of any county of the State of Mississippi to perform certain functions of the
reappraisal of property or for property appraisal updates, and the work is not to be
performed under the direction of the county tax assessor, the private consultant shall be
a state certified real estate appraiser as defined in Section 73 -34-3 of the Mississippi
Code of 1972. Any such field supervisor or private consultant shall have the following
experience and professional certifications:
1. Not less than five years experience in mass app raisal of land, residences,
commercial property and personal property as an appraiser or supervisor. The
experience requirement may be met in total within five years if the directing
appraiser or private consultant had responsibility in all four areas of mass appraisal.
Private firms or Private Consultants contracting solely for the purpose of
performing real property appraisals shall not be required to have experience with
appraisal of personal property but shall be required to have not less than five years
experience with mass appraisal of land, residences and commercial property.
Private firms or private consultants contracting solely for the purpose of performing
personal property appraisals shall not be required to have experience with appraisal
of land, residences and commercial property but shall be required to have not less
than five years experience with mass appraisal of personal property.
2. Additionally, such person must have obtained the Certified Appraiser certification
and the Assessor Evaluator II designation prior to placing a performance bid. On
and after October 1, 2007, such person shall be certified by the State Tax
Commission and hold a Mississippi Assessment Evaluator designation to bid on
county appraisal contracts with the Board of Supervisors.
104 Not withstanding the qualifications listed above, a licensed appraiser of any state in the
United States, or a Certified Assessment Evaluator (CAE) as designated by the
International Association of Assessing Officers, or any person holding MAI designation
from the Appraisal Institute may apply to the Property Tax Office of the State Tax
Commission to perform specialized appraisals if he/she can document expertise in such
appraising. The State Tax Commission will determine if the documented expertise is
adequate, and if so, will grant authority to appraise special property.
105 (Reserved)
Chapter 05 Qualifications for Class I Property
100 Class I Property (Single Family Owner Occupied, Residential Real Property) shall be
assessed at a ratio of ten percent (10%) of true value. Property qualifying for homestead
exemption is prima facie Class I property except as provided below.
101 There is no maximum nor minimum acreage prescribed for Class I property. The amount
of acreage which is used for residential purposes is a question of fact to be determined on
a case by case basis by the county assessor.
102 Property enjoying the benefits of the application of "Agricultural Use Value" shall not, by
definition, be eligible for the application of the benefits of Class I Property.
103 Multi-family housing such as duplexes, triplexes and apartments of a commercial nature
are not eligible, in whole or part, for classification as Class I Property.
104 Condominium Housing, wherein each single family unit is occupied by the owner and/or
his or her family, is eligible for classification as Class I Property.
105 Property owned by multiple persons is not eligible for treatment as Class I Property
unless the owners are related in the third degree and are otherwise eligible.
106 Military personnel on temporary duty in Mississippi who have declared their permanent
residence to be in another state, but who own and occupy their home in Mississippi, are
eligible to have their home treated as Class I Property if it is otherwise qualified.
107 Property otherwise eligible for treatment as Class I Property is not disqualified by virtue
of multiple generations of the same family occupying the same home or multiple homes
on land held in common.
108 Agricultural buildings, as defined in the State Tax Commission manual "Appraisal of
Rural Structures", wherever located, will be treated as Class II Property.
109 The land roll will depict Class I and Class II Property separately. In the first column,
immediately under the brief legal description, the Class I portion of the parcel will be
shown in the following sequence and on a single line: Land (or L); improvements (or I);
Total (or T)
109.01 The Class II portion, if applicable, will be shown in the same sequence in the next line.
Each line will be clearly denoted as to class of property. A third line will depict a total of
the two classes of the parcel, if applicable. All columns to the right will reflect the
appropriate data by class or as totals of the two classes. All printing of this information
on the property rolls shall be at a rate of 6 lines per inch.
110 The "Page of Pages Recapitulation" will result from a footing of each column's totals for
parcels from each page. No separate breakdown by class is necessary.
110.01 The "General Recapitulation" where the values and acreage of such species of property is
shown as "cultivatable" and "uncultivatable", will be necessary to depict separately the
acreage in the case of land and the value of land, and improvements of Class I and Class
II property.
111 The true value as well as the assessed value for each class of property shall be on the tax
receipt or statement.
112 (Reserved)
Chapter 06 Standards of Acceptance
100 The following standards of performance will be used by the State Tax Commission in
determining the acceptability of the real and personal property rolls in each county:
1. Minimum Requirements for Aerial Photography
a. Aerial Photography covering the entire county will be flown periodically and
accepted by the county using specifications established by the State Tax
Commission. The time interval for flying aerial photography will be
determined on a parcel count basis as follows:
Parcels of real property Time period
--------------------------------------------------------------------
10,000 parcels and less Within 15 years
10,001 to 20,000 parcels Within 12 years
20,001 parcels and above Within 10 years
b. The county may appeal to the MSTC for an extension of the time period based
on the lack of growth in assessed value, the lack of increased parcels, or the
lack of change in use value coverages. Requests for such extensions must be
made two (2) years prior to the set time period intervals as described above
and the MSTC shall accept or reject in writing the request within ninety (90)
calendar days.
c. Within two (2) years after acceptance of aerial photography, the county will
re-classify or verify all agricultural property according to its current use
(cultivatable or uncultivatable). Counties flying multiple times within the
designated time frame may request that additional verification of cultivatable
or uncultivatable lands not be required.
d. Prior to flying new aerial photography the county will contact the MSTC in
writing. Minimum photography accuracy will be to the standards of the
original ownership base if the original accuracy has been approved by the
MSTC. MSTC approval of the original accuracy must be submitted to the
county within ninety (90) calendar days after the county notifies the MSTC of
its intent to fly new aerial photography.
e. USGS Digital Orthophoto Quadrangles (DOQ'S) will be considered
acceptable photography for rural areas only.
2. Minimum Requirements for Mapping
a. Counties shall acquire and maintain a proper ownership mapping system
performed over an appropriate aerial photography base. Ownership maps and
aerial photos will be maintained as separate products but will be required to
overlay and correlate. Once aerial photography is flown and accepted, the
county must submit a plan acceptable to the MSTC to complete ownership
map revisions.
b. Originals or copies of current ownership maps and aerial photography must be
housed in the Assessor's office.
c. Upon flying new photography, the accepted map scales for ownership
mapping are as follows:
Minimum scales required
Scale Application
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1"=100' Urban Centers/Incorporated Areas
1"=400' Sparse/Moderate Rural Areas
Alternate scales accepted
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1"=50' Downtown Business Districts
1"=200' Populated Rural Areas
Scale requirements must be coordinated with the MSTC prior to
flying aerial photography.
d. Mapping and related documents and materials will be updated annually to
reflect changes such as roads, waterways, transmission lines, pipe lines, and
reservoir projects. This update should also include any changes pertaining to
ownership, acreage, lots, parcel numbers, and exempt properties.
e. In counties that have digital mapping systems, Assessors shall have the
capability to produce (or reproduce on demand) all documents, maps,
photographs, copies, and materials described in these minimum requirements
at the prescribed sizes, scales, and formats, and on the prescribed mediums
(paper, mylar, etc.).
f. All counties will have maps to be used in the field for appraisal purposes.
Upon demand, the county shall have the capability to produce and reproduce
maps with aerial photo or imagery composites.

# 3.

Personal Property Standards Coming to Standard
a. One Hundred Percent Compliance with Title 35 of the Mississippi
Administrative Code, Part VI, Subpart 02, Chapter 08 by the 1999 Tax Roll.
b. Inventory - All inventories shall be valued annually. The true value of current
inventory can be determined as of January 1 [tax lien date] or an average of
inventory of the previous twelve (12) months.
c. Leased property - Leased property shall be captured annually. The business
where the leased property is physically located shall identify said property on
its Personal Property Rendition Form. However, the property shall be
assessed to the Lessor. The Lessor shall actually render the property and the
Assessor shall have a master card which shall correlate back to the business in
which the property is located.

# 4.

Maintenance
After a county has come into compliance, the maintenance program shall
begin and the following shall be done:
a. The County shall annually comply with the provisions of Title 35 of the
Mississippi Administrative Code, Part VI, Subpart 02, Chapter 08.
b. Each county is required to physically review and verify at least 25 percent
of all personal property accounts annually. In each subsequent year, an
additional 25 percent of the personal property accounts shall be
physically reviewed and verified. This process will result in the physical
reviewing of 100 percent of all personal property accounts every four years.
The 25 percent shall include a fair representation of the various types of
personal property accounts located in the county. Each county must be able
to identify those parcels reviewed and supply a list of the same to the
MSTC.
c. Leased equipment shall be updated annually
d. Inventory shall be brought current annually.
e. New businesses, additions, and deletions shall be captured annually.
f. Rendition forms must be maintained and provided to the MSTC upon request.

# 5.

Real Property Minimum Requirements and Standards for Appraisal Updating
a. Roll Year 1997 is to be a year of developing and adopting standards and
minimum requirements for maintenance of real property appraisal. These
standards and minimum requirements should be adopted prior to the first
Monday of July 1997; or as soon thereafter, as possible. Roll year 1998, or
year set by the MSTC, is to be governed by existing standards of compliance
pursuant to Miss. Code Ann. §27-35-113 and Property Tax Bureau Title 35 of
the Mississippi Administrative Code, Part VI, Subpart 02, Chapter 06 as
developed by the MSTC. Roll year 1998, or year set by the MSTC, is to
serve as the benchmark year for a four -year update cycle. Counties that
are presently under an Order, any county that may be placed under an Order,
or those counties voluntarily updating may have differing cycle dates from
1998. A county can develop and use an update cycle of less than four (4)
years but no update cycle shall be allowed beyond four (4) years.
b. Assessors and Board of Supervisors that prefer to use contractors will take full
responsibility that the contractor is complying with all standards and
minimum requirements set forth by the MSTC. The MSTC will no longer
approve individual contracts.
c. The MSTC will afford counties adequate time to get into compliance with the
statutes of the State of Mississippi that must be enforced by the MSTC.
d. As soon as possible after the adoption of the standards and minimum
requirements, all counties shall prepare and maintain a current sales file.
Beginning with the appropriate land roll, as set by the MSTC, and not to
exceed every four (4) years, each county shall develop and implement a new
building index and current land pricing for small tracts and urban land. The
index must conform to approved procedures set out by the MSTC. Failure of
a county to develop and implement an index by the designated roll year or to
develop and implement a new index during any update cycle will mandate the
county to implement the regional index supplied by the MSTC. The year
1998 (or year approved by the MSTC) will serve as a benchmark for a four -
year appraisal cycle.
e. Although the MSTC will not dictate the time table, a county should
accomplish various functions of an update. The MSTC will continue to
monitor the progress of all counties and continue to do sales ratio studies and
audit procedures to assure each county's assessment records comply with
acceptable standards.

# 6.

Real Property Minimum Requirements and Standards for Appraisal
Maintenance
a. Estimate true value as of the value date of January 1 of the year of the
upcoming roll of all real property involving changes, additions, or expansions.
Additionally, the county should prepare new, add to, or change property
appraisal cards as to any errors, omissions, deletions, or additions as required
to reflect accurate true value of all land and improvements required to be
appraised in accordance with current MSTC guidelines.
b. In complying with the four -year update cycle, a county must physically
observe, check condition (if necessary) and note on the property records as to
the date of observation. One hundred percent of all parcels in the county shall
be observed within a four (4) year period.
c. At anytime during an update cycle, if the MSTC becomes aware, through
an audit or other means, that the county will not be able to timely
complete the update, then the MSTC will notify the Board of Supervisors,
Assessor, Chancery Clerk, and County Administrator of their findings. If
possible, the MSTC will provide the county detailed instructions on what the
county must do in order to timely complete the update.
d. All property records and supporting schedules must be maintained and
provided to the MSTC upon request.
e. All agricultural land use values will be sent by the MSTC to all assessors in
accordance with Miss. Code Ann. §27-35-50(4) and used annually.
f. All 16th section leasehold property rights will be appraised.
g. In case of ownership splits, the county will identify acreage in each major soil
group as required and will estimate values annually for each accordingly.
h. All new construction, additions, or expansions shall be appraised by approved
MSTC methods whether or not ownership of land has changed. For the
purpose of appraisal of new construction or improvements under construction,
the county shall use at its discretion, in addition to physical inspection, all
available information including but not limited to the following:
i. Building permits issued by the county, city or town.
ii. Septic tank permits issued by the Health Officer or similar official.
iii. Electrical connections or services which would indicate new
construction or improvements being constructed. Any records or
inspection of construction in progress or completed which may be
maintained by the city or county office.

# 7.

Ratio Studies
a. The following shall be the standards used for ratio studies:
i. A standard (acceptable limits) for overall assessment performance, i.e.,
compliance with statutory assessment level.
ii. A standard for uniformity and equality of overall assessments.
iii. A standard for price related assessment bias.
b. Each standard and its range of acceptability is explained as follows:
i. Ratio: The acceptable limits around a median ratio shall not exceed 20
percent, plus or minus, on Class I property, and not exceed 25 percent,
plus or minus, on Class II and III properties. Further, counties which are
ordered to adjust shall meet a ratio of not more than 15 percent, plus or
minus, on Class I property, and 20 percent, plus or minus, on Class II
and III properties after adjustments.
ii. Standard of Uniformity and Equality: It is generally recognized that the
coefficient of dispersion about the median is the most accurate indicator
of uniformity and equality. Therefore, the coefficient of dispersion
about the median shall not exceed 25 percent for purposes of rejection,
and require correction to not more than 15 percent on Class I properties,
and 20 percent on Classes II and III properties.
iii. Price Related Assessment Bias: A standard for regressivity based on the
regressivity index shall not exceed 0.92 percent on the low end, and 1.08
percent on the high end.
101 (Reserved)
200 Any county whose next update year for real property as of January 1, 2007 is tax year
2007, 2008 or 2009 shall be regulated by the provisions of Title 35, Part VI, Subpart 02,
Chapter 06, Section 100 of the Mississippi Administrative Code, including all
subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs and clauses of that section, as set above, until the
year succeeding this next real property update year. For all years succeeding the next
real property update year for those counties whose next update year for real property as
of December 31, 2006 is tax year 2007, 2008 or 2009, the county shall be regulated by
the provisions of Title 35, Part VI, Subpart 02, Chapter 06, Sections 300 through 604 of
the Mississippi Administrative Code, including all subsections, paragraphs,
subparagraphs and clauses of those sections, as set out below. Any county whose update
year for real property is 2006 shall be regulated by the provisions of Title 35, Part VI,
Subpart 02, Chapter 06, Sections 300 through 604 of the Mississippi Administrative
Code, including all subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs and clauses of those sections,
as set out below, for tax year 2007 and all succeeding tax years.
201 (Reserved)
300 Title 35, Part VI, Subpart 02, Chapter 06 of the Mississippi Administrative Code is
promulgated to establish performance standards and acceptable parameters for evaluation
of the accuracy of property tax assessments and to insure equalization of property values
by class throughout the State of Mississippi. The standards of performance included in
this chapter will be used by the State Tax Commission in determining the acceptability of
the real and personal rolls of each county.
301 For the purposes of this rule, being Title 35, Part VI, Subpart 02, Chapter 06, Sections
300 through 604 of Mississippi Administrative Code and all subsections, paragraphs,
subparagraphs and clauses thereof, the following definitions shall apply:
1. 25% Personal Property List - the 25% list is an annual list compiled from the base
year personal property tax roll. It is comprised of approximately 25% of the total
personal property on the tax roll excluding leased property, cell towers and
billboards. It is to be furnished to the property tax office by the county assessor
designating the personal property parcels (businesses) which will undergo close
inspections for each of the four years in the update cycle. Parcels are required to be
inspected only one time during the update cycle.
2. 25% Real Property List - a list of parcels by map numbers that nearly approximates
25% of the total real property parcels in a county. Such parcels will be subject to
selection for audit by the property tax office. The list is due to the property tax
office by January 1st of the audit year. The property tax office will approve the 25%
real property list. 100% of all real property parcels must be closely inspected
during the update cycle.
3. Additions - items of personal property added to a business since the last roll year.
4. Appraisal Manual- the current Mississippi Appraisal Manual with current revisions
as produced by the property tax office.
5. Assessment equity test - the test for price related bias. Price related bias occurs
when appraised values are slanted in favor of lower -priced properties or higher -
priced properties. The formula for the assessment equity test is the mean divided by
the weighted mean. If the resulting number is above one, regressivity is indicated.
This indicates that high -value properties are under -appraised relative to low -value
properties. If the result is below one, progressivity is indicated. Progressivity
indicates that high -value properties are over -appraised relative to low -value
properties.
6. Assessment Level Test - the overall ratio of appraised values to market values in a
statistical study. For the purposes of this rule, the level of assessment will be
measured by the median.
7. Assessment Uniformity Test - the test for fairness of individual assessments. It is
measured by the coefficient of dispersion about the median.

# 8.

Asset - any item that is used in the operation of a business.

# 9.

Asset List - a detailed listing furnished by a business containing personal property
items purchased for use in a business. The list should include description, original
acquisition cost new, and the actual age of each item.

# 10.

Base Year - the year immediately succeeding the most current update year.

# 11.

Business - any commercial establishment, industry, or research and development
facility.

# 12.

Close Inspection of Real Property - physically inspecting real property parcels for
property tax purposes by viewing them closely with property record card in hand.

# 13.

Coefficient of Dispersion About the Median - a numerical value that measures the
average percentage deviation of the ratios from the median in a statistical study.

# 14.

Commission - the State Tax Commission, the Chairman and Associate
Commissioners.

# 15.

Consigned Items - items delivered or transferred to the control of another's care in
anticipation of sale.

# 16.

County Audit - the verification process performed by the property tax office to
determine whether counties have equalized values within given classes of property
and have complied with the provisions of this rule to insure that values have been
equalized.

# 17.

County Building Index - a calculated number used to adjust the costs in the
appraisal manual to meet local construction costs, including, but not limited to,
labor, materials and profit. Such index is applied to real property improvements as
provided in the appraisal manual.

# 18.

Deed Log - a record of all deeds filed in the Chancery Clerk's office during a
calendar year. It must contain all data required by the appraisal manual.

# 19.

Deletions - items of personal property removed from a business during the prior
roll year.

# 20.

Depreciation - the loss in value of any item.

# 21.

Drive-by Inspection - the process of reviewing parcels from a motor vehicle to
determine whether changes have occurred to the parcels. Drive -bys are an
acceptable means of performing real property maintenance.

# 22.

Error Points - points used in the determination of passing or failing the county
audit. They are assigned to a category based upon the seriousness of the error with
category I errors being the most serious and category III being the least serious.

# 23.

Itemized Listing - an asset list or a detailed listing produced by a contractor acting
on behalf of a county, or by a county appraiser.

# 24.

Inventory - an itemized list of goods on hand and available for sale by a business. It
may include, but is not limited to; products held in reserve or put on shelves for
sale, resale or consumption by the public. They may be raw materials, work in
progress, finished goods, consigned goods, or ingredients used in food preparation.

# 25.

Leased Equipment - personal property items furnished by another business which
are used under terms of a contact or agreement.

# 26.

Mapping Reconciliation - a verification accounting of parcels on the maps within a
county to insure that they are accounted for on the land roll.

# 27.

Median - the midpoint or middle value when a set of values is ranked in order of
magnitude.

# 28.

Order - A document issued by the Commission which identifies the assessment
levels of a class or classes of property and whether the county is in compliance with
the regulations of the commission. It further identifies any corrective actions
necessary for counties that are not in compliance.

# 29.

Personal Property Close Inspection - an on-site physical examination of the
personal property items associated with a business. The examination is performed
with property record card in hand by a contractor acting on behalf of a county or by
a county appraiser.

# 30.

Property Record Card - a permanent card or computer generated facsimile of a card
containing information about the parcel that it represents. Information on the card
shall adhere to the requirements of the appraisal manual.

# 31.

Property Tax Office - the Property Tax Office of the Mississippi State Tax
Commission or the employees of same.

# 32.

Real Property Maintenance - the annual process of adding new properties to the tax
roll, adding additions to existing properties on the tax roll, and deleting structures
from the tax roll which have been removed from existing parcels.

# 33.

Rendition - the actual listing of personal property completed by the taxpayer or
other preparer, signed by the taxpayer, and returned to the tax assessor's office. A
summary of the taxpayer's property with individual additions and deletions noted is
likewise considered a rendition, providing the assessor has a complete detail listing
of the taxpayer's personal property signed by the taxpayer.

# 34.

State Index - The state index is a calculated number which represents a multiplier
used to bring costs in the appraisal manual to the actual cost of constructing an
improvement. The state index will not be calculated from construction occurring in
counties having a population exceeding 40,000 according to the 2000 U.S. census.

# 35.

Trending Factors or Multipliers - tables provided by the property tax office
annually that adjust for inflation in industries.

# 36.

Update - the process that each county must complete every four years in which
every parcel is closely inspected to determine whether changes have occurred. All
parcels must be revalued during the update cycle.

# 37.

Update Year - the last year of the county's four -year cycle, or the year approved by
the property tax office as the update year.

# 38.

Update Cycle - the update cycle is the four year period commencing with the base
year and ending with the update year. The update cycle may vary from four years
only with the approval of the property tax office.
302 (Reserved)
400 Real Property Update Process:
400.01 Every county is required to update parcel values a minimum of once every four years. To
achieve such update, each county must have its values in accord with the values produced
by applying the procedures in the then current version of the appraisal manual, and insure
that the property values fall within established tolerances of market value. Counties will
closely inspect approximately 25 percent (25%) of total real property parcels each year
unless a county has written approval from the property tax office to do otherwise. Where
it is impractical to closely view a given parcel, the county appraiser should indicate on
the property record card why the parcel was not closely inspected. An error will not be
noted when the county appraiser fails to closely view the parcel because of taxpayer
objections, dangerous animals, high fences or other legitimate obstacles unless the
changes to the parcel can be observed from the front of the structure.
400.02 At the end of the update cycle, the county must have equalized values within the county
so that similar properties have been assigned similar values, and that the relationships
among all property values are correct. Counties must have completed an index study as
provided in the appraisal manual and submitted it to the property tax office by April 1 of
the update year providing adequate sales exist. If the study indicates a new index is
justified, it must be implemented during the update year. If any county does not have
adequate sales to complete the index study, the county must implement the state index.
Property values on the tax roll must reflect the updated values shown on the property
record cards. Additionally, counties must complete sales ratio studies, and the ratios
must fall within accepted parameters as shown elsewhere in this rule. Counties must also
physically observe all parcels on the 25 percent (including all real property which is
required to be on the roll as of January 1 st) list to insure correct depreciation, and such
observed depreciation must be used on structures with an age of twenty (20) years or
more. The tax roll must include all real property which is required to be on the roll as of
January 1st.
401 Guidelines for appraising differing types of property for the purpose of updating values
are as follows:
1. Land - All land must be valued using the procedures set forth in the appraisal
manual.
2. Agricultural Use Land - Land deemed to be used for agricultural purposes shall be
classified by soil type and use (cultivatable or un -cultivatable). It shall be valued
annually using the then current agricultural use values provided by the property tax
office.
3. Small Tracts and Urban Land - Small tract land and urban land must be revalued
during the update year if warranted. Counties must monitor sales activities, creating
schedules to determine values. Counties having insufficient sales of raw land may
use sales of improved parcels abstracting the improvement value.
4. Improvements - Improvements shall be valued according to procedures set forth in
the appraisal manual. The county index shall be applied to improvements as
required by the appraisal manual. All improvements to parcels or removal of
structures from parcels shall be recorded correctly on the property record card. The
value of such parcels must be changed on the tax roll where appropriate.
5. Real Property Maintenance - Counties are required to annually locate, list and value
all new properties including additions to existing properties. Likewise, all
properties which have been altered or removed shall have such changes noted on
the property record cards and the values adjusted accordingly. All new properties
must be measured on site. Changes to parcels shall be noted on the property record
card and reflected on the land roll values. While parcels subject to maintenance
only are not on the 25 percent (25%) list, and will not be audited as such, errors
resulting from failure to value new improvements larger than 600 square feet will
be counted as errors when found. The property tax office will verify that new
houses, buildings and other large improvements have been added to the roll.
402 Real Property County Audits Performed by the Property Tax Office
402.01 The property tax office shall use sales ratio studies and other means to determine whether
the counties are in compliance with this rule. During the county audit, the property tax
office will review at least two hundred fifty (250) closely inspected real property parcels
with improvements or 15 percent (15%) of the improved parcels on the 25 percent (25%)
list, whichever is fewer. Additional parcels will be inspected if deemed appropriate by the
property tax office. No more than ten percent (10%) or 25 parcels with mobile homes
will be considered as part of the real property audit. Upon completion of the audit and
prior to finalization, a listing of any errors, as denoted below, will be given to the tax
assessor for review. The property tax office will consider any objections of the tax
assessor. If after meeting with the property tax office, agreement is not reached, the
board of supervisors may petition the commission for a hearing on the matter. Counties
that fail audits will face sanctions as provided by Mississippi statutes.
402.02 Counties will be deemed to have failed the county audit and/or the update if:
1. The county does not pass the assessment level test;
2. The county does not pass the assessment uniformity test;
3. The county does not pass the assessment equity test;
4. The county audit performed by the property tax offic e indicates errors that exceed
twenty-five (25) points; provided however, if on parcels with errors, the calculation
of value by the county does not exceed 15 percent (15%) from the value calculated
by the property tax office, the county will be deemed to have passed the audit
irrespective of the number of error points;
5. The county does not value agricultural lands using th e current rates provided by the
property tax office;
6. The county does not provide the real property 25 percent (25%) list by the first
Monday in July or extension due date: or
7. The county does not complete an index study and submit it to the property tax
office by the First Monday in July or the extension due date, if applicable, of the
update year.
403 Ratio Studies
403.01 The property tax office shall either, perform ratio studies during the update year on
county sales, or use the county ratio studies to determine whether the county has equaled
or exceeded the standards for the assessment level test, the assessment uniformity test,
and the assessment equity test. The studies will be performed as provided in the appraisal
manual.
403.02 The standard for passing the assessment level test for Class I properties is a median ratio
of 85 percent (85%) to 115 percent (115%) of market value. A median for Class II
properties of 75 percent (75%) to 125 percent (125%) of market value is deemed passing.
403.03 The standard for passing the assessment uniformity test is a coefficient of dispersion
about the median of 20 percent (20%) or less.
403.04 The standard for passing the price related bias test is an index range of .92 to 1.08.
403.05 Counties not meeting or exceeding the standards shown above will be deemed to have
failed the tests.
404 Real Property Audit Errors
404.01 Category I errors include:
1. Failure to assess or delete major improvements, such as, but not limited to,
residences or other buildings larger than 600 square feet in size and which have an
improvement true value greater than $50,000.
2. Incorrect construction units totaling 25 units or greater on one building. Additional
special use units will not be considered an error if their use is pre -approved by the
property tax office.
3. Data entry errors which are greater than $50,000 in true value.
4. Failure during the update year to perform sales ratio studies as provided in the
appraisal manual, providing that twelve or more arm's length sales occurred during
the previous two year period.
5. Failure to maintain an adequate sales file as set forth in the appraisal manual
6. Failure to implement a building index during the update cycle within a 10 percent
(10%) variance of the state index as calculated by the property tax office, unless
otherwise approved in writing by the property tax office.
7. Failure to provide the real property 25 percent (25%) list to the property tax office
by April 1st of the base year.
8 Failure during the update cycle to update all land values, using urban land pricing
and small tract schedules.
9. The above mentioned errors 4-8 are not parcel specific, thus, they will be assigned 4
error points each.
404.02 Category II errors include:
1. Failure to assess or delete garages totaling 400 square feet or larger, and/or upper
floors and rooms in residences or other buildings with true values ranging from
$5,000 to $50,000.
2. Failure to assess or delete utility buildings or other detached buildings larger than
400 square feet in size, excluding prefabricated type buildings.
3. Failure to measure any dimension of an improvement within 2 feet.
4. Failure to classify any building within one full class (building classification as set
forth in the appraisal manual). An incorrect classification of one full class or more
is considered an error.
5. Decimal areas as set forth in the appraisal manual which are incorrect by .5 or
greater.
6. Failure to list depreciation of a given improvement within 10 percent (10%) of the
depreciation for the actual or effective age as shown in the appraisal manual.
Improvements where the county appraiser has noted observed depreciation will not
be considered an error unless the observed depreciation has a variance within 20
percent (20%) of actual depreciation. Observed condition shall be used to
depreciate buildings with an effective age twenty (20) years and older.
7. Failure to use the correct base rate table (high or low table) when valuing
improvements.
8. Incorrect construction units totaling six (6) to twenty -four (24) units on one
building.
9. Failure to correctly assess garages or other non -living areas that have been changed
to base area.
10. Failure to remove improvements that no longer exist and that were on the land roll
with values of $5,000 or more.
11. Failure to correctly calculate the base and/or adjusted areas of a structure.
12. Data entry errors which fall within a range of $5,001 to $50,000 in true value.
13. Failure to correctly value land within a tolerance of 20 percent (20%) of market
value unless documented on the property record card
14. Failure to correctly assess any improvement or extra features, not otherwise listed in
the error portion of this rule, for which costs or costs schedules exist in the appraisal
manual, providing that the cost of the individual improvement or feature exceeds
$5,000.
404.03 Category III errors include:
1. Failure to correctly assess wood decks, patios, prefabricated utility buildings and all
other attached or detached buildings not included under Category I or II above.
2. Incorrect construction units totaling 2-5 units or less on an individual building.
3. Decimal areas as set forth in the appraisal manual which are incorrect within a
range of .2 to .5.
4. Data entry errors which fall within a range of $1,000 to $5,000 in true value.
5. Failure to assess additions to improvements, including, but not limited to rooms
and/or garages, totaling 400 square feet or less.
6. Failure to correctly assess any improvement or extra features, not otherwise listed in
the error portion of this rule, for which costs or costs schedules exist in the appraisal
manual, providing that the cost of the individual improvement or feature is $5,000
or less.
404.04 Standards for Real Property Audits
1. Category I: Each 1 percent (1%) of audited parcels with category I errors yields 10
error points.
2. Non-Parcel specific category I errors yield four error points each.
3. Category II: Each 1% of audited parcels with category II errors yields 2 error points
4. Category III: Each 1% of audited parcels with category III errors yields .5 error
points
5. Example: 250 parcels audited
2 parcels with category I errors = 8.0 error points
6 parcels with category II errors = 4.8 error points
10 parcels with category III errors = 2.0 error points
Total Error Points 14.8
County passes audit
6. Implementation: Counties shall fall under the provisions of this rule commencing
with their next base year after December 31, 2006.
405 (Reserved)
500 Personal Property
501 Update Process
501.01 The County shall annually comply with the provisions of Title 35, Part VI, Subpart 02,
Chapter 08 of the Mississippi Administrative Code.
501.02 All Counties will develop and use an update cycle of four (4) years. The base year will be
the year immediately succeeding the real property update year. This process will result in
the physical reviewing of 100 percent (100%) of all personal property accounts every
four years. Each county is required to perform a close inspection and re -value
approximately percent (25%) of all personal property parcels annually. In each
subsequent year, an additional 25 percent (25%) of personal property parcels shall be
physically reviewed and re -valued. The base year will be used to determine the
minimum number of parcels that must be physically reviewed and verified each year
during the update cycle. During the base year, the county must supply a list of the
parcels to be closely inspected and re -valued during each of the four (4) years of the
cycle. Counties should complete all the appraisals annually by June 30 or extension due
date. Failure to provide the 25 percent (25%) personal property list by the first Monday
in July or extension due date will constitute automatic failure of the audit. Any county
failing to list 80 percent (80%) of all items found on the parcels reviewed in the random
sample, will constitute failure of the personal property portion of the audit.
502 Maintenance
502.01 Counties must be in compliance with all provisions of Title 35, Part VI, Subpart 02,
Chapter 08 of the Mississippi Administrative Code.
502.02 Inventory - All inventories shall be valued annually. The true value of current
inventory will be appraised as of January 1st or an average of inventory of the
previous twelve (12) months.
502.03 Leased property - Leased property shall be valued annually. The business where the
leased property is physically located shall identify said property on its Personal
Property Rendition Form. However, the property shall be assessed to the lessor. The
lessor shall actually render the property. The assessor shall have a master property
record card which shall locate and identify all leased property of the lessor. In the
event the lessee does not adequately identify the lessor, the lessee will be taxed on the
leased property.
502.04 All new businesses, additions, and deletions shall be captured annually and the values
reflected on the tax roll.
502.05 It is the responsibility of the county to use the most recent schedules for depreciation
and trending factors (multipliers) supplied by the property tax office.
502.06 Prior to the first Monday in July or extension due date, the assessor must produce a list
of all new parcels added during the prior roll year.
502.07 The original rendition for each personal property parcel must be available to the
property tax office upon request.
502.08 The property tax office will do sample verification to determine if mobile homes are on
the tax roll and are valued according to the property tax office guidelines.
503 Personal Property Audits
503.01 Personal property audits will be conducted on an annual basis. The audit will consist of,
but not be limited to, a minimum of thirty (30) randomly selected parcels or the total
number of parcels on the 25 percent (25%) list whichever is less. The total number of
mobile homes considered as part of the personal property audit will be a maximum of 10
percent (10%) of the randomly selected parcels. The property tax office reserves the
right to look at any and all information relating to personal property during the audit
process. The final audit findings will be reported using the error classifications listed
below. Multiple instances of the same error within a parcel will be counted only once.
The most serious error in each parcel will be counted.
503.02 Counties will be deemed to have failed the county personal property audit and/or the
update if:
1. Failure to provide the 25 percent (25%) list by the first Monday in July or as
required by the roll extension due date.
2. Failure to physically review and value at least 80 percent (80%) of the total true
value of the personal property belonging to the businesses on the random sample;
3. The county audit performed by the property tax office indicates errors that exceed
twenty five (25) points
504 Personal Property Audit Errors
504.01 Category I
1. Failure to assess or delete a new business whose true value equals or exceeds
$50,000.
2. Failure to list or assess individual items of any business whose true value equals or
exceeds $20,000.
3. Data entry errors that equal or exceed $25,000 true value per parcel.
4. Failure to assess a 10 percent (10%) penalty to any business that fails to file a
proper rendition.
5. Failure to list items in a business totaling 30 percent (30%) or more of true value
providing the business' true value equals or exceeds $50,000.
6. Failure to value a taxable inventory equal to or exceeding $100,000 of true value.
7. Failure to physically review and re -value the assets of a business on the 25 percent
(25%) list.
8. Failure to provide the personal property 25 percent (25%) list to the property tax
office by April 1st of the base year.
9. Failure to routinely use the most current depreciation tables or multiplier tables
supplied by the property tax office.
10. Failure to routinely assess 10 percent (10%) penalty for renditions filed after April
1.
11. Failure to submit renditions or copies of renditions to the property tax office upon
written request.
12. Failure to use the current pricing information supplied by the property tax office for
other approved pricing.
13. The above mentioned category I errors 8 -12 are not parcel specific, thus, they will
be assigned 4 error points each.
504.02 Category II
1. Data entry errors between $5,000 and $25,000 of true value per parcel.
2. Failure to compare renditions to the property record cards and make needed
adjustments.
3. Failure to value a taxable inventory which equals or exceeds $4,000 but is less than
$100,000 of true value.
4. Failure to list items in a business totaling 30 perc ent (30%) of actual true value
where the true value of the business ranges from $25,000 to $50,000.
504.03 Category III
1. Failure to list items in a business totaling 30% of true value in any given business
providing the value of the business ranges from $4,000 to $25,000 of true value.
2. Data entry errors relating to a particular parcel between $1,000 and $5,000 of true
value.
3. Failure to value a taxable inventory having a true value of less than $4000.
4. Failure to note the appraiser's initials and dates of each inspection on the property
record card or enter such data into the computer system.
5. Appraising individual pieces of furniture and/or fixtures using an arbitrary value,
rather than using the appraisal manual or other acceptable pricing method.
6. Failure to properly assess the 10 percent (10%) penalty relating to individual
renditions.
7. Failure to assess a mobile home.
504.04 Personal Property Audit Standards
1. Category I: Each 1 percent (1%) of audited parcels with category I errors yields
error point
2. Category II: Each 1 percent (1%) of audited parcels wi th category II errors yields
error points
3. Category III: Each 1 percent (1%) of audited parcels with category III errors yields
25 error points
4. Non-Parcel specific category I errors yield 4 error points each.
505 (Reserved)
600 Mapping Requirements
601 Minimum Requirements for Aerial Photography
1. Aerial photography covering the entire county will be flown periodically and
accepted by the county using the minimum scale requirements shown below. The
time interval for flying aerial photography will be determined on a parcel count
basis as follows:
Parcels of real property Time period
10,000 parcels and less Within 15 years
10,001 to 20,000 parcels Within 12 years
20,001 parcels and above Within 10 years
30,001 and above Within 8 years
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The county may appeal to the property tax office for an extension of the time period
based on the lack of growth in assessed value, the lack of growth in number of
parcels, the lack of change in agricultural use coverage or in the case of natural
disaster. Requests for such extensions must be made one (1) year prior to the set
time period intervals as described above. The property tax office shall accept or
reject in writing the request within ninety (90) calendar days. If the Mississippi
Remote Sensing /Geographic Information Systems Coordinating Council furnishes
free aerial photography, all digital counties must use such new photography unless
prior photography plans have been approved. All photography must meet property
tax office standards.
2. Within two (2) years after acceptance of aerial photography, the county will re -
classify or verify all agricultural property according to its current use (cultivatable
or uncultivatable). Counties shall use the most recent soil survey available.
Counties flying multiple times within the designated time frame may request that
additional verification of cultivatable or uncultivatable lands not be required.
3. Prior to flying new aerial photography the county will contact the property tax
office in writing. If the original ownership base mapping has been approved by the
property tax office, minimum photography accuracy will be considered by the
property tax office. Written approval from the property tax office must be
submitted to the county within ninety (90) calendar days after the county notifies
the property tax office of its intent to fly new aerial photography.
4. Photography will be flown at such times as deciduous trees are free from foliage,
vegetation is minimal, and the rivers, streams and lakes are within the normal
boundaries. No vertical photographs will be made when the sun is more than thirty
degrees from vertical.
5. Minimum scale requirements: Negative scale for all rural areas shall be one inch
equals two thousand feet (1 "=2000') flown from an altitude of 12,000 feet; all
designated urban areas shall be one inch equals five hundred feet (1"=500') flown at
an altitude of 3000 feet. Any areas requiring enlargements to one inch equals two
hundred feet (1"=200') shall be enlarged from the one inch equals two thousand feet
(1 "=2000') negative. If using the orthophoto approach, the minimum resolution
accepted will be 0.5' pixels for 1=100' areas and 2.0' pixels for 1=400' areas.
Alternate scales may be approved with property tax office approval. All scale
requirements must be coordinated with the property tax office prior to flying aerial
photography.
602 Minimum Requirements for Mapping
There will not be an update cycle for mapping. This rule contains time frames for
performing the functions necessary for mapping.
1. Counties shall acquire and maintain a proper ownership mapping system using an
appropriate aerial photography base. Ownership maps and aerial photos will be
maintained as separate products but will be required to overlay and correlate. Once
aerial photography is flown and accepted, the county must submit a plan acceptable
to the property tax office to complete ownership map revisions. The plan must
include who will perform the mapping, time requirements, and detail work to be
performed.
2. Originals or copies of current ownership maps and aerial photography must be
housed in the Assessor's office.
3. Upon flying new photography, the accepted map scales for ownership mapping are
as follows:
Minimum scales required
Scale Application
1"=100'…….Urban centers/ heavily parceled incorporated areas
1"=400'…….Sparse/Moderate rural areas
Alternate scales accepted
1"=50' Downtown business districts
1"=200'…… Populated rural/suburban areas
4. Mapping maintenance is to be performed in a timely manner on an annual basis.
Maintenance shall include working all recorded vesting instruments including but
not limited to:
a. Changing all names/addresses
b. Creating new parcel splits
c. Updating parent parcels
d. Soil/productivity calculations
e. Correcting of identified errors in existing maps
f. Final inking (manual counties)
5. The following documents should be considered when making mapping changes:
a. Wills involving real estate
b. Plats of new subdivisions
c. Mississippi Department of Transportation documents indicating new and/or
widened road right of way as well as easements
d. Municipal documents indicating corporate limit annexations
e. Government documents indicating new district boundaries
6. All parcels with agricultural use acreage changes shall be recalculated annually to
reflect the correct acreages based on the soil productivity and current lad use. The
most recent published soil survey shall be utilized.
7. All deed changes affecting the roll will be completed on or before June 30. Any
changes to be completed after the first Monday in July or roll extension due date
must be approved in writing by the property tax office.
8. A deed log containing a record of all mapping changes shall be maintained. The
minimum contents of the log shall be parcel number, deed book/page, instrument
date, grantor, grantee, and type of change (name change, new parcel, type of
reference). The deed log shall be submitted to the property tax office in hard copy,
CD or by e -mail on or before June 30 each year. Failure to submit a deed log will
result in failure of the mapping audit. The deed log for the tax year 2010 and after
must be received on CD or by e -mail. The hard copy version of the deed log will
no longer be accepted after 2010. Excel is the preferred format for the deed log.
9. All parcels on the land roll will be reconciled against the parcels on maps to ensure
that all parcels are on the land roll. Counties with manually -drafted maps shall
perform this reconciliation, at a minimum, every four (4) years to coincide with the
appraisal update year. Counties with digital maps shall reconcile annually. Failure
to perform the reconciliation will result in failure of the mapping audit.
10. Assessors shall have the capability to produce or reproduce within 10 working days
for the property tax office all documents, maps, photographs, copies, aerial photo or
imagery composites, and materials described in these minimum requirements at the
prescribed sizes, scales, and formats, and on the prescribed mediums (paper, mylar,
etc.).
11. Only references to real property parcels shall be placed on the maps and carried to
the land roll. References to non -parcels such as road right -of-way, railroad right -
of-way, dummy numbers for entire subdivisions and whole sections may be used, at
the assessor's discretion, on the maps and land roll. All parcels on the land roll
shall be designated as such on the ownership maps including homestead splits and
"improvement only" parcels. Any parcels not appearing on the ownership maps
must be documented by the assessor's office. Dimension or acreage information
must appear on the ownership maps or be available through other means.
12. All counties must have a set of maps or com puterized format of same stored off-
site.
603 Mapping Audit Process
The mapping audit will consist of, but not be limit ed to, a minimum of twenty (20) new
parcel splits selected from the deed log or the total number of parcels on the deed log
whichever is less. When available, some deeds wi ll be selected from each month of the
deed log. The mapping audit will include rural as well urban properties. The property
tax office reserves the right to look at any and all information relating to mapping during
the audit process.
604 Mapping Audit Errors
The final audit findings will be reported using the error classifications listed below.
Parcels containing multiple instances of the same error will be counted as 1 error. The
most serious error on each parcel will be counted. Errors will generate points based on
the following schedule:
604.01 Category I
1. Parcel is not mapped
2. Parcel is mapped but not on land roll
3. Failure to deliver the deed log by June 30
4. The above category I error 3 is not parcel specific, thus, it will be assigned 4 error
points.
604.02 Category II
1. Soils are not recalculated correctly
2. The parcel is mapped in the wrong location
3. Incorrect soil class applied to a given parcel
604.03 Category III
1. Lines scale is outside the tolerance of 10 percent (10%)
2. A parcel is mapped but not inked
3. Acreage computed is outside the tolerance of 10 percent (10%)
4. Dimension is missing, incorrect, or outside the 10 percent (10%) tolerance
604.04 Mapping Audit Standards
1. Category I: Each 1 percent (1%) of audited parcels with category I errors yields
2 error points
2. Category II: Each 1 percent (1%) of audited parcels with category II errors yields
1 error point
3. Category III: Each 1 percent (1%) of audited parcels with category III errors yields
.5 error points
4. Non-Parcel specific category I errors yield 4 error points each.
5. The mapping audit shall he deemed as failed under any one of the following
criteria:
a. Failure to perform the required reconciliation.
b. Failure to contact property tax office prior to conversion to digital mapping.
c. Failure to properly apply agricultural use classes on a county wide basis.
d. Failure to fly according to the prescribed schedule unless an extension is
granted.
e. Failure to supply the deed log by July 1 or extension due date.
f. The error point total exceeds 25.
605 (Reserved)
35.VI.2.06 updated effective January 1, 2007