Olive Branch Mayor Ken Adams shared information with the Board of Aldermen Tuesday night to indicate how the city efficiently operates its government and services, while contributing to county government and the local school district.
Mayor Adams said that it was an honor for Olive Branch residents to provide one of every three tax dollars used by DeSoto County Government to operate the county. He added that the DeSoto County School District operates one of the best public school districts in Mississippi due, in part, to the tax dollars provided by the city.
“The City of Olive Branch is blessed to be able to lead the way financially to operate a city and help the County and Schools,” Adams told the board. “We will continue to be good stewards of citizens’ tax dollars.”
Adams pointed out to city officials and the Board of Aldermen that Olive Branch has the lowest millage rate among DeSoto County communities at 38.50 mills. He offered this information about what Olive Branch taxpayers are receiving for their property taxes.
$250,000 Assessed Residential Property Municipal Annual Property Tax Comparison:
50 mills Horn Lake $1,250
46.78 mills Southaven $1,170
41 mills Walls $1,025
40.76 mills Hernando $1,019
38.50 mills Olive Branch $963
For an Olive Branch home with an assessed value of $250,000, the annual rate of $963 divided by 365 days/year equates to only $2.64 a day for the following services:
24/365 Emergency Response for Police, Fire and EMS services
City Parks
Recreation Facilities
Library
Senior Citizens Center
Code Enforcement
Planning & Engineering
Airport
Public Works
Animal Services and Shelter
Communications daily via social media about city matters
Numerous City sponsored events
Olive Branch’s assessed value increased from $794,465,926 in 2022 to $869,459,529 in 2023, which is a 9.4 percent increase, according to Adams.
The mayor also said that Olive Branch has experienced incredible growth of 9.4 percent in the past year, compared to Southaven at 5.6 percent, Horn Lake at 7.3 percent and Hernando at 4.1 percent.
Among items considered at Tuesday’s board meeting, which Adams described as a very short session, board members voted to rescind its Speed Bump Request Policy to stop installing them due to the impact on public safety response times.
Adams told aldermen that the only people who like them are the ones with houses adjacent to the bumps and that they are not effective, as people slow for them and then speed up to make up for lost time.
