NATCHEZ — In the face of rising property tax assessments, which will cause land owners to pay higher property taxes, some entities are making plans to help Adams County residents.

Representatives from the Natchez-Adams School Board and Adams County Board of Supervisors said they are considering lowering their millage request to lessen the burden on taxpayers.

But whether or not the City of Natchez will lower its millage has yet-to-be discussed, Natchez Mayor Jake Middleton said. “Right now it’s too soon to tell,” Middleton said.

Adams County Tax Assessor Reynolds Atkins said recent mandates from the state have forced him to evaluate properties at a higher value than in previous years.

“People are going to get larger tax bills, and a lot of them won’t be ready for that,” Atkins said. “The city, county and school board need to help them out.”

The city, county and school board each collect a millage that is, in part, based on property values.

One mil is the unit of measurement assigned to county property taxes.

Since the value of a mil, currently valued at approximately $185,000, will go up based on the increased property assessments, the three entities should lower the amount of millage they collect, Atkins said.

Doing so at a rate comparable to the tax increase could protect residents from higher taxes.

Adams County currently collects 60.4 mils, the City of Natchez collects 42.7, and the Natchez-Adams School Board collects 53.9 mils.

Supervisor Mike Lazarus said if the three bodies don’t lower the millage, residents will be stuck with high tax bills and the county, city and school board will likely have more money than they need.

“I think we’ve pretty much decided to offset the increases,” Lazarus said.

And while no official action has been taken by the supervisors or the school board, Natchez-Adams School District Business Manager Margaret Parson said the school board will also likely lower its millage.

“Based on numbers I’ve seen, we should be able to lower the millage,” Parson said.

Atkins said he will likely provide a tax roll, which will then be used to set the millage, to the supervisors in early July.

Natchez Alderwoman Joyce Arceneaux-Mathis said she is receptive to lowering the millage, but must be able to guarantee the city will still have enough money to fund its essential services.

“We have to have things like a fire department and a police department to be able to run the city,” Mathis said. “We have to know that we have everything in place before we talk about lowering the millage.”

But both Mathis and City Clerk Donnie Holloway said the city’s current budget woes will play a factor in cutting the millage.

The city has recently used hundreds of thousands in borrowed money to pay its employees.

“We’re constantly looking at where we can save, we’re talking about layoffs now” Mathis said. “We don’t know.”