DeSoto Supervisors Approve FY 26 Budget With Millage Reduction

Photo: Supervisors Tuesday morning hear the FY 26 budget presentation provided by interim County Administrator Andrea Pettigrew. (Bob Bakken/desotocountynews.com)

HERNANDO, Miss. – The DeSoto County Board of Supervisors approved its Fiscal Year 2026 budget this week, adopting a millage reduction that leaders say will protect services while easing some of the tax burden on residents after a state-mandated property reassessment.

The county millage rate will drop from 41.02 to 34.25 mills, part of an overall adjustment that also includes reductions from the DeSoto County School District and Northwest Mississippi Community College. The combined millage will fall from 97.58 to 80.74, a cut of 16.84 mills.

Board President Mark Gardner said the decision was one of the most difficult in his 14 years on the board.

“It was very difficult this year, probably the hardest budget I’ve worked on,” Gardner said. “With the reassessments, we didn’t want people to have a huge tax increase, but there are offsetting reductions. For instance, you might see a slight increase in your property tax from the county, but you’ll also see a large reduction if you live in a mobile home or in your car tags.”

The reassessment raised average property values in DeSoto County from 56 percent to 85 percent of fair market value, creating tension between state valuation rules and tax levy practices. Supervisors balanced the higher values with the millage decrease to soften the impact on taxpayers.

Gardner explained that the net result is modest.

“If you boil it all down, the total increase in revenue to the county is less than one percent – about 0.74 percent,” he said.

The impact on individual taxpayers will vary. Residents over 65 with special homestead exemptions will see increases because their property values are frozen while millage rates change. Homeowners under 65 can expect slight increases in real estate taxes but reductions in vehicle tag fees. Mobile home owners will see decreases.

Beyond the millage decision, the FY 26 budget funds state-mandated increases in court staffing and salaries, county facility repairs, continued support for volunteer fire departments, EMS expansions, and road and bridge projects. Since 2017, the county has completed more than $64 million in road improvements and over $12 million in facilities projects without raising millage.

Supervisors also highlighted major accomplishments from FY 25, including completing a broadband expansion project that brought high-speed internet access to nearly 12,000 previously unserved residents, EMS expansions, and new fire stations that lowered insurance rates.

Gardner praised county staff for navigating a difficult reassessment year while keeping taxpayer impact as low as possible.

“Hopefully it all balances out,” Gardner said. “It does balance out, to a little less than one percent overall.”