Jones County staff finalize assessment notices, board approves mailing after reassessment funding secured

Jones County tax-assessor staff reviewed changes to this year’s assessment digest and the board approved mailing the assessment notices on May 29, officials said, after commissioners voted to fund a countywide reevaluation.

The assessment notices reflect table changes — including a new price-per-square-foot schedule, land-value adjustments and accessory-structure updates — that produced an overall digest change the office summarized as 23.40 percent. “I went before the board last night requesting the funding for, the county wide reevaluation and I'm happy that we received a unanimous vote to support that and to fund that,” said Chris Weidner, chairman of the Board of Commissioners, as read into the meeting record.

Why it matters: the digest change shows how updated values affect assessed value; that does not automatically determine an individual taxpayer’s final bill because millage decisions and a state cap on taxable-value increases affect what each property owner will pay. At the meeting staff repeatedly stressed that an assessed-value increase can produce “sticker shock” and urged outreach to explain the difference between assessed value and tax liability.

Most important facts

- Mail date and approvals: Staff told the board the mail date for assessment notices is May 29 and that the office planned to upload files to its vendor the day after the meeting. A motion to approve the assessment notices was made, seconded and the board approved moving forward.

- Countywide reevaluation funded: Staff reported that the Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to fund a countywide reevaluation; staff said the reevaluation will help rebalance residential and commercial tables and address longstanding effective‑year and land-table issues.

- Digest changes and drivers: Staff described multiple drivers of the changes: increased price-per-square-foot tables (one table change noted moving from $95 to $110 per square foot), new residential construction and completion-percent updates, corrections to inappropriate overrides, land-table updates (some land tables had not been materially changed since the 2007 reevaluation), and commercial depreciation effects.

- Mobile-home revaluations: The office moved many mobile homes from an older internal calculator to the NADA mobile-home valuation system, which produced significant increases in some mobile‑home values and reductions in others where prior overrides had been removed. Staff said they will prioritize field reviews for mobile homes in 2026 and that some VIN and manufacturer data require correction.

- Corrected notices and follow-up: Staff acknowledged a small number of assessment lines that appeared incorrect (for example, a parcel showing $0) and said corrected first notices would be prepared and brought to the board when needed before final upload. Staff also said they had a list of parcels for secondary review and would bring proposed corrections back to the board.

Supporting details and context

Staff walked commissioners through changes in map-and-parcel order, showing previous-year and current-year values and percent changes for each parcel. Examples discussed included new residential improvements (staff said 88 new houses and mobile homes were added to real property this year, with about 83 houses completed by county staff), large percentage jumps for newly completed construction, and large decreases where inappropriate overrides were removed.

On commercial property, staff said they did not have time in this cycle to fully rebalance commercial tables but had corrected several extreme depreciation-driven reductions flagged in a state peer review. “The commercial sales can be trickier to judge without getting a lot more information,” a staff member said while describing adjustments to properties such as restaurants and recent sales that included business assets as well as real estate.

Outreach and next steps

Staff described an outreach plan they proposed to the board: an informational packet available in the assessor’s office, a social-media post and website explanation timed with mailing of the notices, and the possibility of town-hall meetings to answer taxpayer questions after bills arrive. “We have discussed it some, and that's something we look forward to doing, and working with the board to create something like that,” the assessor's office said. Staff asked commissioners and local contacts to help distribute informational material to reduce confusion and phone-volume spikes when notices arrive.

Public comment

Two residents who addressed the meeting praised the assessor’s staff for their work and urged clear communication with the public. “You could kill them with kindness and explain something to it,” one resident said, urging coordinated education and reminding commissioners that other taxing authorities (school boards, municipalities) set millage rates that affect taxpayers’ final bills.

Ending

The board approved mailing the assessment notices after the staff presentation and indicated support for the office’s plan to return any corrected first notices for board review before final uploads. Staff said the countywide reevaluation — funded by the Board of Commissioners — and targeted 2026 field work on mobile homes and commercial tables are intended to reduce next year’s year‑to‑year swings and improve uniformity of valuations.