Aug. 7, 2025 – In an effort to ease the tax burden on residents following countywide property reassessments, the DeSoto County School District (DCS) Board of Education has voted to lower the school district’s millage rate for the 2025-2026 school year.
The unanimous vote, taken during Thursday’s board meeting, ensures that the amount of local tax revenue requested for school operations will closely match the previous year’s total. The board agreed to request $119,827,994 for the upcoming school year—slightly less than the $119,839,888 collected in 2024-2025.
The move is expected to reduce the local school funding millage by 9.97 mills, providing some relief to homeowners facing increased property valuations due to reassessment.
“Even though property taxes may still rise slightly due to the new assessments, our school board members and I wanted to ensure that our operation funds are not a contributing factor,” said Supt. Cory Uselton. “We are committed to being responsible stewards of local tax dollars while continuing to provide a high-quality educational experience for the students of DeSoto County.”
Board members Charles Barton, Michele Henley, Shelia Riley, Josh Sullivan, and Jerald Wheeler joined Uselton in supporting the millage reduction.
The district emphasized its ongoing conservative fiscal approach, highlighting recent investments in student safety and teacher compensation. DeSoto County Schools has issued local-funded teacher pay raises for five straight years and now ranks among the highest in the state for educator salaries. The district is also spending more than $4.1 million this year to fund School Resource Officers at every campus, contributing $70,000 per officer to local law enforcement agencies.
School officials say they will continue to closely monitor the budget while maintaining their focus on academic excellence and financial responsibility.
Bob Bakken provides content for DeSoto County News and its social media channels. He is an award-winning broadcaster, along with being a reporter and photographer, and has done sports media relations work with junior and minor league hockey teams. Along with his reports on this website, you will find this veteran media member providing sports updates and high school football play-by-play on Rebel 95.3 FM Radio.
