Leflore County Tax Collector Annie Conley says she’s been hard at work improving herself during her four years in the office.
At a meeting of the Greenwood Voters League on Wednesday night, Conley said she has earned a master’s degree in rural public policy and planning from Mississippi Valley State University and is working on a master’s degree in business administration there.
Conley, a Democrat, is unopposed in the Aug. 4 primary. She will face challenger Linda Whittington, an independent, in the Nov. 3 general election.
Conley said she and her staff have received important training.
“Everyone, including myself, has been trained and certified by the state Department of Revenue and the Mississippi Association of Assessors and Collectors. This is the first time that these staffers have been trained and certified,” she said.
Conley said a debit card machine has been installed in her office to aid residents in paying their tax bills.
Leflore County Tax Assessor Leroy Ware also spoke to the group. Ware, who also is unopposed, has served in the job for 17 years.
Ware said someone recently asked him why he never seems to have an opponent.
“I thought about it and said, ‘It’s either one of two things. The first one is that I’m really good, and everybody loves me, and can’t nobody beat me. The second one is, I’ve got a job that don’t nobody want to do,’” he said jokingly.
He reminded the crowd about a new law that allows for veterans with 100 percent service-connected disabilities and their spouses to not pay ad valorem taxes on their personal homes. He said only 13 veterans had signed up.
“If you know a veteran or a spouse of a veteran who had a 100 percent service-connected disability, please tell them to contact our office,” Ware said.
Ware also advised property owners that they have until Aug. 3 to seek adjustments on the valuation of their homes, businesses and farmland.
He said the recently completed reappraisal isn’t likely to increase taxes on homes in the county. The biggest jump came in agricultural farmland, which is based largely on soil type, he said.
“Over the past five years, we’ve had a 60 percent increase in the value of agricultural farmland,” he said.
Ware reminded the crowd that the county now has a building code and that building permits are required for all construction and demolitions.
• Contact Bob Darden at 581-7239 or bdarden@gwcommonwealth.com.
