INFORMAL REVIEW
Informal review is the first step of the appeal process. To start, schedule a meeting with a member of the Lafayette County Tax Assessor’s Office. The purpose of the meeting is to complete an informal review of your property, which is not yet an appeal. The meeting will:
- Verify the information on your property record card,
- Make sure you understand how your value was estimated,
- Discover if the value is fairly compared with the values of similar properties in your neighborhood,
- Find out if you qualify for any exemptions, and
- Be sure you understand how to file a formal appeal, if you still wish to proceed with an appeal.
FORMAL APPEAL
If you are not satisfied with the results of your informal review, you will need to complete a formal appeal to the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors.
Begin the formal appeal process by contacting the Lafayette County Chancery Clerk, Mike Roberts, by email at mroberts@lafayettecoms.com or by mail to P.O. Box 1240, Oxford, MS 38655. You will also need to copy the Lafayette County Tax Collector/Assessor, Rocky Kennedy, at rkennedy@lafayettecoms.com or mail to 300 N. Lamar, Ste. 103, Oxford, MS 38655.
Your appeal is more likely to be successful if you present evidence that comparable properties in the same neighborhood are assessed for less than yours. Evidence examples would be:
- Copies of property record forms on your property and comparable properties
- Estimated market values or sales prices of your property and comparable properties
- Notable differences between your property and the comparable properties.
The best evidence example is a recent appraisal of your own property.
The appeal board will be interested only in the fairness and accuracy of the value placed on your property, not in whether you can afford to pay your taxes or whether taxes are too high.
Foreclosures, short sales, bankruptcy, auctions, distressed sales and bank-owned homes and property are not considered as a good sale in determining our true values.
IMPORTANT APPEALS DATES
- 1st MONDAY in JULY: Real and Personal Property Rolls are Presented
- Month of JULY: Rolls are open to the Public
- 1st MONDAY in AUGUST: DEADLINE for Filing Appeals with the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors
- 3rd MONDAY in AUGUST: Real and Personal Property Values and any Appeals are FINALIZED by the Lafayette County Board of Supervisors
