Sunflower County’s total property value declined by $3.1 million this year, according to the 2025 edited tax roll presented this week by County Tax Assessor Cynthia Chandler and Deputy Tax Assessor Renee Upton.
The decrease, which includes real property, personal property and mobile homes, was largely attributed to a sharp decline in business inventories and the closure of several local businesses.
“We’re down $3.1 million overall this year,” Upton told the board of supervisors on Monday. “Most of our companies experienced inventory reductions; however, the biggest decrease was at the Dollar General Warehouse, which went down $3.4 million.”
Other notable losses included the closures of the Indianola Pecan House, a Family Dollar store in Drew, Goldberg’s shoe store in Indianola, Double Quick’s corporate office, and Nutrien Ag.
Upton explained that while real property values increased by $1.7 million, the decline in personal property and business inventories more than offset those gains.
Board members discussed the reasons behind the decline.
Supervisor Glenn Donald claimed that Dollar General’s inventory reduction was likely due to workforce shortages.
“They stopped handling some of the inventory because they couldn’t get enough workers there to do it,” Donald said. “A lot of that inventory was redistributed to other warehouses, and they started dispersing it to other parts of the company.”
Supervisor Riley Rice echoed concerns about workforce retention, saying, “I’ve talked to some workers out there, and they said that as soon as they’re trained, they work maybe a month before quitting. It’s a problem we’re having. They don’t want to stay employed.”
Dollar General, in a statement to The Enterprise-Tocsin this week, contested the workforce claims.
“For more than 35 years, Dollar General has been proud to be part of the Indianola and Sunflower County community, currently employing more than 700 individuals through our store, distribution and private fleet presence,” the statement said. “Our reduced inventory levels at our Indianola distribution center and related lower property taxes reflect our companywide, strategic efforts to reduce inventory across our distribution network while reducing and optimizing SKUs in our stores. As such and contradictory to recent county supervisors’ comments, lower inventory levels are not related to staffing or training concerns.”
Board President Gloria Dickerson pointed out that the $3 million decrease in property values will directly impact county revenues.
“That’s going to affect how much we can possibly collect,” Dickerson said.
Rice responded bluntly: “We’re going down. Sunflower County is going down, for a lot of reasons.”
Dickerson agreed, emphasizing the importance of awareness as the board prepares next year’s budget.
“We need to understand all of this when we start talking about the budget,” she said.
Rice suggested that the county focus on education, workforce development and infrastructure to reverse the trend.
“When we attend conferences, we see the improvements other places are making. They have less crime, better infrastructure, and strong school systems—all of which attract businesses. An educated workforce is crucial. The school system affects business. That’s why people are moving elsewhere—like to the coast or the Northeast,” he said. “We can’t just talk about it; we need to act. I’ve been watching this decline, and it’s steady. That’s the problem.”
Upton also mentioned new columns on the county’s tax spreadsheet for a solar farm north of town (Harvest Gold), which is paying only half of its taxes under a fee-in-lieu agreement.
“They’re only paying half of their taxes because that’s what was agreed upon in the fee-in-lieu arrangement,” she explained.
The board unanimously approved a motion by Rice, seconded by Anthony Clark, to approve and advertise the tax roll.
The information will be used as the board prepares the county’s next budget.
