Jackson Free Press

Last week, The Jackson Free Press ran a story about Jackson Mayor Frank Melton's dual residency in Texas and his filing for homestead exempt status in Tyler, Texas, rather than in the city he serves as mayor. More information from the Hinds County tax assessor's office shows that Melton has consistently filed an application here for "owner occupied real estate" classification on his home at 2 Carters Grove in Jackson, for the last five years, saving him around $2,300 every year he claimed the 10 percent classification.

According to state law, however, Melton cannot qualify for the classification if the Jackson property is not filed for homestead exempt status.

Property in the state of Mississippi is classified in three ways for purposes of how much ad valorem tax the state imposes. Residential owner-occupied real estate is assessed at 10 percent. Other real estate is assessed at 15 percent, and vehicles and utilities and other properties are assessed at 30 percent, according to the state constitution.

Melton filed an application for homeowner occupied property classification with the tax assessor in March 2004, but tax records assess Melton's property on 2 Carter's Grove at $35,282 for a property value of $352,829—about 10 percent.

A recent Mississippi attorney general's opinion, subsequent to Mississippi Supreme Court case Board of Supervisors of Harrison County v. Duplantier, says that a home cannot qualify for the 10 percent classification unless it is the primary residency of that home owner. The property can't be the primary residence if the owner has filed homestead exemption in connection with another piece of property.

Melton shares exempt status with his wife, Ellen Redd Melton, on a $488,600 home in Flint, about 10 miles south of Tyler. He could not be reached for this story.

Previous Commentsshow

What about the "homestead rights" of his wife who resides at the home in Texas? Why should she be denied this tax break just because her husband resides in another state? Perhaps there is something in Texas Code that permits "Head of Households" (IRS tax code status) to claim homestead when their spouse lives outside the State. If so Mr. Melton and his wife would be entitled to both claim homestead by virtue of their residency in two respective states. You really need to explore the legal ramifications of Texas law before assuming Mr. Melton is in the wrong. Incidentally, you can file homestead in Mississippi if you are living in the home on December 31 of the year for which you are filing (and prove ownership).

realtime

Feb 16 2006

I don't live in Texas, realtime. Also, I think you're missing the details in some of this.

DonnaLadd

Feb 16 2006

Nowhere could I Google anything definitive for TX or MS on having "dual" homesteads. However, MA did have a clause about it: "If I divide my time equally between my winter and summer residences, can I declare a Homestead on both?" "No. A Homestead can be declared only on an applicant’s “principal residence”. A person can have more than one residence but the statute only allows the protection on one’s legal domicile. There is no legislative intent to allow the exemption to apply to a vacation and not primary residence. For example, a husband cannot declare a Homestead exemption on one residence while the wife declares the exemption on the other residence, unless each can prove that the residence is their “principal residence”." Now they may be able to declare that each heads a "principle residence." I certainly would think Mrs. Melton is the "principle resident" of the house in Flint. However, they are both listed on the tax rolls in each state. He even filed Homestead with her in TX. The other take is that if we allow him to claim Jackson as his "primary residence" then it would bolster the "estranged wife" image. We are then supposed to blindly follow him on turning Jackson into "his" image of a Christian city and trust "his" judgment. Pot/kettle/black on that one. I think this smacks the faces of many of his more conservative supporters who usually make hay about these types of failings. You have to wonder what really motivated them to vote for him as time goes on....

pikersam

Feb 16 2006

Texas is a community property state, so a married couple owns their property jointly unless one or the other of them owned it prior to the marriage or inherits it directly from a family member. In other words, there isn't really an option for a "head of household" exemption that somehow allows them to claim that she's the owner of one home and he the other, particularly from Texas' point of view. Meantime, as pikersam notes, Melton *himself* isn't trying to claim a homestead in both states. He claims his homestead in Texas as an owner of that property. What this story is showing, however, is that he's also claiming that his Jackson home as his primary residence for tax purposes, so that he receives a lower tax assessment here. I guess, according to Meltonian logic, both homes are his primary residence since he's a "dual resident" in two states of the Union at once. I guess he's lucky Texas doesn't have an income tax!

Todd Stauffer

Feb 16 2006

I'm the most bothered that he outright lied about having filed here to the election committee, while pointing to phantom papers in a bag. Then, he got caught and said he hadn't gotten around to it yet. But he still hasn't done it.

DonnaLadd

Feb 16 2006

Donna I totally agree. When is someone going to call this man what he really is. To quote a local TV station, "who's accountable?" Just like our national "comander in chief" our city "police office in chief" seems to be above the law and telling any shread of truth Keep God first BMJ

badmamajamma

Feb 17 2006