NATCHEZ — Some city and county residents that haven’t been required to pay property taxes in the past will be paying those taxes in the future.

Adams County Tax Assessor Reynolds Atkins said a bill that would have raised the homestead exemption for disabled and elderly homeowners never left the Mississippi House of Representatives, and will mean some of those residents will pay property taxes for the first time ever.

The bill would have raised the homestead exemption for the elderly and disabled to $100,000 from $75,000.

Atkins said since many of the elderly and disabled are living on fixed income, finding cash to pay for new taxes won’t be easy.

Those with homes valued at or below $75,000 are currently not taxed on their property.

“I hate this,” Atkins said. “This has caused me to lose hours of sleep. It’s going to hurt some of these people.”

Atkins said for years the system has worked for the benefit of the disabled and elderly.

But recent changes mandated by the Mississippi State Tax Commission will cause the value of every house and business in Natchez and Adams County to go up.

Atkins said the formula dictated by the commission was changed to reflect the true value of a house and will result in higher property values.

The failed bill was meant to counteract the higher property values soon to be in place.

Atkins said one group that wasn’t in favor or the new bill becoming law was the Mississippi Association of Supervisors.

Now, counties across the state will now be able to collect taxes from the elderly and disabled residents, and bring new funding into counties and cities.

But locally, some members of the Adams County Board of Supervisor said they’re in favor of lowering the millage to compensate for the higher property taxes that all residents will be paying, not just the elderly and disabled.

“(Property taxes) for everyone are going up,” Supervisor S.E. “Spanky” Felter said. “We need to do something, this is going to hurt some people.”

And Felter, like Atkins, said he’s concerned about the impact the taxes will have on residents with fixed incomes.

“Some of them may not be able to pay,” he said.

Supervisor Mike Lazarus said he also in favor of lowering the millage to compensate the new assessment, but sees a need for joint cooperation with the City of Natchez and the Natchez-Adams School District.

Lazarus said if all three bodies don’t lower their millage rates, it won’t help city or county residents.

“We need to work together on this,” Lazarus said.

Natchez City Clerk Donnie Holloway said the Natchez Board of Aldermen have yet to discuss the matter.

Holloway would not speculate as to when the aldermen would discuss the issue.

Natchez-Adams School District Superintendent said the school board has not discussed the issue yet.