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TELEPHONES
EDWARD D. MURTAGH, JR.	(6oimL6?
Hancock County Assessor-Tax Collector	467-1669
Post Office Box 2428-Bay Saint Louis,Mississippi 3952I	ASSESSOR
467-5727
APPRAISAL
467-0130
PICAYUNE 798 8555
Most tax payers feel that their only contact with the tax office is the payment of their ad valorem taxes. However, our contact with the public becomes more involved than that. With your permission I will take you on a verbal tour.
Our mapping department is one of the most important departments. In order to tax property you must first know where it is located, who owns it, and its physical characterj.cs that would lend to its value.
Some twelve years ago the County was ordered to reappraise all properties within its borders. We did not have maps at that time.
In order to accomplish this we conducted an aerial survey and came up with our key map. In order to establish ownership we read some fifty thousand deeds registered in the Courthouse. Thus we now have ownership maps. Each year we must read some five thousand deeds to update our maps. These are mainly name changes, splits, changes in ownership. At the present time we are making efforts to obtain a computerized mapping system that would allow many operations; such as land use values, school bus routes, land fill areas and many engineering qualities. However, this system is quite expensive and presently out of reach.
In order to tax the improvements on property that has been mapped, we must physically ride each road and measure each improvement and list its peculiar qualities of construction that would tend to the ?' determination of value. This information is applied to our property record cards and later transferred to our computer system. The County does not have a permit law, thus we must search out new construction by riding each road. The State does not have a disclosure law. That is, the buyer or seller of property does not have to disclose the selling price of the property. Each month we send to the Grantor and Grantee of all deeds filed in the Courthouse a questionaire requesting prices of property sold. By doing this, we establish a Sales Date file, which enables us to keep current with sales in the area. Each year the State of Mississippi runs a statistical analysis of our