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Jones County board approves 43 CUVA applications, tables four parcels and denies one
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Summary
At its March 5 meeting, the Jones County board approved 43 CUVA applications recommended by the tax office, tabled four parcels for additional land-use information, denied one parcel that did not meet eligibility rules, and adopted state CUVA and FLPA assessment values; the board also approved 98 homestead/veteran exemptions and discussed outsourcing business personal property processing.
The Jones County board on March 5 approved the majority of conservation-use valuation (CUVA) applications presented by the county tax office while tabling a handful of contested parcels and denying one that did not meet legal requirements.
Tax office staff (Goodman) told the board the office received 47 CUVA applications this cycle and recommended approving 43, with four parcels flagged for further review because they did not meet acreage, adjacency or tree-coverage thresholds. "We have received 47 CUVA applications this month," Goodman told the board and recommended that the board approve the 43 that met the office's criteria.
The board moved to table parcel J69011 to allow the landowner to submit a land-use report; similar motions to table parcels J45107 and J64B026 were made and approved to give owners the chance to provide additional documentation. For parcel J65A00014, which the tax office said was neither the minimum acreage nor adjacent as required, a commissioner recommended denial and the board voted to deny the application.
After removing the four contested parcels, a motion to approve the remaining 43 CUVA applications passed by voice vote.
In a related action, the board adopted state-provided CUVA and FLPA assessment values for the tax year, as staff had requested. The board also approved the list of 95 homestead exemptions and three veterans' exemptions that staff recommended, approving 98 exemptions in total.
Staff then presented public-utility ACOs and the assessment values the county submits to the state tax commissioner for billing. One utility, staff said, will be billed at 85% pending the outcome of an appeal to the state. "I recommend approval," staff said when asking the board to adopt the utility ACOs and assessment values; the motion to approve the public-utility values passed, and the chair noted there were four votes for the record.
On appeals and other administrative items, staff reported completion of processing 23 motor-vehicle appeals and recommended approval of all 23; the board approved those appeals. The tax office also said it added 280 new business personal property accounts to the county roll and mailed business personal property returns; 42 accounts require additional research. Staff said the county is examining outsourcing processing for those returns and plans to engage an outside company to audit business personal property records in the coming fiscal year.
Staff updated the board on the appeals process, saying final settlement letters for the 2025 appeals had been mailed and taxpayers had verbally agreed; once signed settlement documents are returned the office will prepare ACOs to conclude the 2025 appeals process. Staff reminded commissioners that April 1 is the deadline for homestead and CUVA submissions.
With no public comments, the board moved into an approximately 10-minute executive session to continue business in closed session.
