08/13/2026
Fact vs. Fiction: Breaking Down Leakesville’s Proposed Adjustments
Leakesville is making important adjustments to property taxes and utility rates to ensure we can continue to provide essential services and invest in our city’s growth. There is a lot of information to cover here, so grab a cup of coffee and please take the time to read this all the way through. The money we collect helps cover daily operating costs and funding long-term projects.
Here is an honest, detailed look at what these changes mean for you.
Your Property Taxes: What to Expect
The City is proposing an adjustment to the property tax rate, moving it from 32.5 mills to a maximum of 35.5 mills. Here is what that could look like for primary residential homes at different values:
• $50,000 home: Current City tax: $162.50 → Proposed: $177.50
Annual difference: +$15 | Monthly difference: +$1.25
• $100,000 home: Current City tax: $325.00 → Proposed: $355.00
Annual difference: +$30 | Monthly difference: +$2.50
• $150,000 home: Current City tax: $487.50 → Proposed: $532.50
Annual difference: +$45 | Monthly difference: +$3.75
Understanding Property Taxes, Millage & Reassessments
• How it works: Your property tax is based on a millage rate, and in Leakesville, we use 10% of your home’s market value to determine your tax. This millage increase only affects the portion of your property tax that goes directly to the City of Leakesville. It does not affect the separate tax rates set by Greene County or the Greene County School District.
• Property Reassessments: Taxes can be a difficult concept, and we want to help clear up common misunderstandings. Your property taxes can go up even if the City or County doesn’t raise the millage rate. This happens during a property reassessment. If the county determines the market value of your home has increased, your 10% assessed value also increases. Because your tax is calculated by multiplying that assessed value by the millage rate, a higher home value automatically equals a higher tax bill—without elected officials ever raising the rate.
• Why City mills are different: When you look at your tax bill, it is divided into County, City, and School district taxes. County and School mills apply to all property across the entire county, generating large totals (roughly $137,000 to $138,000 per mill). A City mill only applies to properties located inside the Leakesville city limits. Because our municipal footprint is much smaller, one City mill currently generates just $10,642 to fund city operations.
• The Paving Reality: There are zero state or federal grants available for routine road paving or ditch clearing. Every pothole patched and road resurfaced must be funded locally.
Your Monthly Utility Bill: The New Costs
Water and sewer rates are increasing by a baseline 3% (rounded to the nearest $0.05). The following is a comparison of current versus proposed costs for a typical household using 5,620 gallons of water:
• Water: $32.69 → $33.67
Monthly increase: +$0.98
• Sewer: $44.60 → $45.94
Monthly increase: +$1.34
• Garbage: $24.00 → $24.00
Monthly increase: $0.00
• Total Bill: $100.29 → $102.61
Monthly increase: +$2.32
Note: Residential garbage pickup is provided by Waste Management. Per our municipal contract, they conduct an annual rate review based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI), which increased the monthly fee for your primary cart to $24.00 earlier this summer.
Water, Sewer, and State Mandates: These rates apply to customers of the Leakesville Municipal Water System only (Not Beat 3, Southeast Green WA, State Line, etc).
• State Mandates: The new fees are designed to keep pace with inflation and satisfy new state regulatory mandates (such as SB 2526 and MSDH guidelines). The state now requires utility systems to automatically deposit 5% of all gross water and sewer sales into a restricted refurbishment account to ensure funds exist for unexpected pipe or pump failures.
• Why is Sewer More Expensive Than Water? Pumping fresh drinking water to your tap is a fairly straightforward process. However, safely collecting, processing, and treating wastewater is highly complex. The specialized machinery, chemical treatments, and strict environmental regulations required to properly process wastewater make it significantly more expensive to manage. This higher operational cost is why sewer rates are universally higher than water rates.
• The New Rates: The residential water base rate inside the city for the first 3,000 gallons moves from $15.40 to $15.85, with usage over 3,000 gallons moving from $6.60 to $6.80 per 1,000 gallons. The residential sewer base fee moves from $16.50 to $17.00, with usage moving from $5.00 to $5.15 per 1,000 gallons.
A Commitment to Responsible Spending
This revenue is essential for keeping our community running smoothly and for building a better future. We understand that any fee adjustment is a concern, but these changes are part of a broader strategy to ensure Leakesville’s long-term stability:
• For Today: These funds cover the day-to-day services you rely on, such as maintaining city streets, clearing drainage ditches after severe weather events, keeping our parks clean, and ensuring our drinking water remains safe and compliant with state standards.
• For Tomorrow: The changes provide the necessary funds for mandatory long-term investments. This includes cash-funded projects like installing a new baffle system at the sewer lagoon (~$125,000 total) and sequentially rebuilding our water well motors ($30,000 to $35,000 each).
• Leveraging Internet Sales Tax: The City receives approximately $260,000 annually from the Internet Sales Tax. The Board splits this revenue directly down the middle: $130,000 is dedicated strictly to street paving (such as the recent partnership with Greene Co for the work on Annex Rd), and $130,000 is dedicated to water and sewer infrastructure.
• Managing Grant Funds Wisely: We actively apply for grant funding, but most grants require an 80/20 cash match or operate on a 100% upfront reimbursement basis. Maintaining liquid cash reserves allows us to fund projects like the Highway 63 sidewalk and Jernigan Road water extension without putting grant awards at risk.
• Smart Procurement: We continuously seek competitive bids, maintain existing machinery to extend its operating life, and avoid purchasing new equipment unless absolutely necessary.
Quick Ways to Lower Your Monthly Utility Costs:
• Check for Hidden Leaks: A running toilet or dripping outdoor faucet can quietly add thousands of gallons to your monthly bill.
• Water-Saving Fixtures: Low-flow showerheads and energy-efficient appliances help reduce your monthly gallon consumption.
• Sign Up for Bank Draft: Avoid accidental late fees and credit card processing charges by setting up automatic monthly bank draft payments with City Hall.
We Are Here For You
We know it’s never easy, and completely natural to be frustrated, when costs go up. The truth is, many of these expenses are simply pass-through costs driven by a much larger national economy, and a lot of those factors are entirely out of our hands.
But we are a tight-knit community, and you don’t have to guess or rely on social media (especially since a lot of the folks stirring the pot online don’t even live in or around Leakesville!). Don’t assume—just ask. We encourage you to ask the hard questions, but please be open to the honest realities of the answers.
City Hall is open five days a week, and there are plenty of ways to reach out. Whether you want to talk to Mayor West, flag down Levi when he’s out checking water meters, or call your aldermen—like McKay, Bill, or Richard (trust me, they come to us all the time asking questions on your behalf!)—we are here for you.
We also invite you to join us at the public hearing at City Hall on Tuesday, August 25th, to discuss these proposed adjustments directly. We’re all in this together, working to keep Leakesville a great place to call home.
