Tax Assessor
The Assessor lists and places a value on all real estate within the county and also on personal property (which includes such things as machinery, office equipment, and similar items). Maps, records, and other documents are kept to help establish the value of such property. Tax rolls are then prepared to be used as the base for ad valorem (at value) taxation for the two school districts, five cities, and the county. The Assessor presents these tax rolls to the Board of Supervisors for public hearings and approval. He or she also helps homeowners file for homestead exemption, which allows some of the homeowner's property to be exempt from property (ad valorem) taxes."It is my desire to administer a professional, courteous, efficient Tax Office that returns a maximum net tax to the cities, schools and county governments. The only successful and tolerable method of doing my job is to be fair and equal in all my decisions. My door is always open to you."
Gerald R. Barber
County Tax Assessor
ASLA, IAAO, MAE, MSA
Meet the Tax Assessor
Gerald R. Barber was elected in 1988 as the first full-time Tax Assessor of Madison County and has served for five terms, and is serving his 6th term. He is a registered landscape architect, real estate broker and certified general appraiser. Gerald and his senior staff hold the highest professional designations in the state for assessment evaluation, appraisal and mapping and maintain two offices, Canton and Ridgeland, to serve the county.
In July 2005, Gerald completed his term as President of the Mississippi Assessors and Collectors Association (MACA), and was previously elected for five years as Chairman of MACA’s legislative committee where he led several successful efforts to pass taxpayer relief legislation. He is the first Tax Assessor/Collector in the state to have served on the Mississippi Municipal Association’s Board of Directors. He previously served as the Vice Chairman of the Metro Transportation Task force and is currently on the Mississippi Task Force to Study Uniformity in Real Property Recordings.
In February 2007 he was appointed as a Commissioner on the Mississippi Appraisal Board (District 3) by Governor Haley Barbour, and is currently serving as Chairman.
Gerald is well-known for his volunteer service to our community, state and nation. He was the first Mississippian elected to the Board of the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), the world’s largest conservation education organization (4.1 million members at this time) and served as Chairman from 1997 to 1999. He is a Past President of the Mississippi Wildlife Federation and is an active volunteer for several charities such as the American Lung Association, Catholic Charities and is a certified Volunteer Hunter Safety Instructor for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. He was named Conservationist of the Year by the Madison County Soil and Water Conservation District in 2004. Gerald received an honorable discharge from the U.S. Army (C.I.D.) in 1974 and is a member of the American Legion Post 153.
From 1972 to 1988 he was President of Oak Lane Inc., a land planning, landscape architecture and design/build firm. He is currently President of Barber & Mann, Inc. a small family business specializing in conservation easements, environmentally sensitive programs, and conservation planning in the Southeast U.S.
A native Mississippian and 38-year resident of Madison County, Gerald holds a Bachelors of Landscape Architecture (1972) from Mississippi State University. He is a member of First Baptist Church of Madison, and he lives in Ridgeland with his wife, the former Elizabeth Rooks. Together they own and manage a small family farm in Sharon. He has two children, Chad Barber and wife Tonya, and Rebecca Barber Tackett and husband Brad Tackett, and three grandchildren, Will and Logan Barber and Mary Taylor Tackett.