MS Coast city’s mistake means a tax break for residents. But they’ll pay for it later
Merry Christmas, Ocean Springs — or maybe not.
Ocean Springs property owners got a short-lived tax break this year, but the city will be coming for the money over the next three years, a news release says.
Ocean Springs sent out a news release Thursday, saying the city made a mistake in calculating tax rates. As a result, property owners are seeing tax bills that are $14.10 less than they should be per $100,000 of assessed value.
By law, tax rates had to be set Sept. 15 and bills were mailed out after Thanksgiving. So it’s too late for the city to collect the shortfall.
The extra taxes will be collected over three fiscal years, beginning next fiscal year, 2025-26. The city will collect an extra $4.70 per $100,000 of assessed value for each of the three years. City and county fiscal years run from Oct. 1-Sept. 30.
The city said this year’s tax bills are lower than they’ve been in previous years due to the error. City tax bills also include taxes that go separately to the Ocean Springs School District. The city’s miscalculation will short schools by $475,000.
The school district plans to take out a short-term loan to compensate for the tax error and will repay the loan with the funds collected beginning in 2025-26.
“The City of Ocean Springs and the Ocean Springs School District are committed to ensuring this is resolved in a manner that prioritizes the financial stability of our schools while maintaining fairness to our taxpayers,” the news release said.
This story was originally published December 19, 2024 at 1:14 PM.
