The Lowndes County Board of Supervisors is expected to move forward in the next step of a wastewater study for the industrial park.

County Administrator Ralph Billingsley said the board previously authorized advertising for bids from engineering firms to study how to handle wastewater capacity if new industries continue to locate at the park. On Monday, supervisors will consider accepting bids to move ahead with the study.

“It could overwhelm the facilities there (if the new industry continues to come in),” Billingsley said.

The industrial park, located off Highway 82 near the Golden Triangle Regional Airport, is home to Airbus, Aurora, PACCAR, Stark Aerospace, Steel Dynamics and other industries.

Billingsley said the study is a preemptive measure to have recommendations for future improvements.

“It’s all served by the wastewater facility out there,” Billingsley said. “Right now it’s fine, but if we continue to put more and more load on it, at some point it will not be able to handle it all. That’s not a two- or three-month fix, so we have to be prepared.

Tax roll public hearing date

Tax Assessor Greg Andrews told The Dispatch he will go before the board to set a public hearing for any citizens who want to appeal their assessed property value.

Andrews said he will recommend setting the hearing for Aug. 31.

The county completed tax rolls in the first week of July, Andrews said. The hearing will allow citizens to challenge the assessed value of their property should they disagree with it.

He said a property’s assessed value is used to determine how much the property owner owes for the year in ad valorem taxes.

“If my home was valued at $150,000 and I thought it should be $120,000, I’d have the opportunity to tell the board why I thought it should be at $120,000.”

At this point, Andrews said, property owners would only be appealing the assessed value. The tax rate for the next fiscal year, which begins in October, won’t be known until Sept. 15.

He said he doesn’t expect many appeals — out of 33,000 parcels in the county, only 694 went up in value. Those that go down or stay the same typically don’t appeal, he said.

Alex Holloway was formerly a reporter with The Dispatch.