Sunflower County has corrected its projected ad valorem tax revenue for the upcoming fiscal year, and it will be higher rather than lower than last year, as previously reported.
The county’s previous advertisement for its public hearing on the budget, which is set for Monday at 9 a.m., stated that last year’s budget of $26, 641,350 would remain the same, while the county was projected to collect roughly $3 million less in ad valorem taxes in fiscal year 2026 ($12.8 million for FY26 versus $15.49 million in FY25).
The Enterprise-Tocsin reached out to the county prior to last week’s print deadline and confirmed the earlier projection, which was revised this week.
The county’s new projection for ad valorem revenue for FY26 is $15,588,160, slightly higher than last year’s projection at this time.
The county is holding steady on the millage, advertising no increase for the upcoming year.
Meanwhile, the City of Indianola is advertising an increase in millage of 5.55 mils from its current 55.50 mils to 61.05 mils.
Often, public bodies will advertise a higher millage increase and work within that range.
It is not uncommon for a county or municipality to come down off the higher advertised millage rate when the final budget is approved.
During a special called budget meeting on Wednesday night, the mayor and board seemed to still be frustrated at the lack of departmental breakdowns. The absence of line items led to a lot of discussion but not a lot of progress in finalizing the fiscal year 2026 budget.
The city still plans to hold its budget hearing on September 15 at 5 p.m., which is next Monday night.
Meanwhile, City Clerk Stephanie Washington and Dr. Adrian Brown, who is contracted with the city, committed to work as long as it takes over the next few days to have a passable budget prepared for the aldermen ahead of the budget hearing.
