For the purposes of this rule, being Title 35, Part VI, Subpart 02, Chapter 06, Sections 300 through 604 of Mississippi Administrative Code and all subsections, paragraphs, subparagraphs and clauses thereof, the following definitions shall apply:
1. 25% Personal Property List - the 25% list is an annual list compiled from the base year personal property tax roll. It is comprised of approximately 25% of the total personal property on the tax roll excluding leased property, cell towers and billboards. It is to be furnished to the property tax office by the county assessor designating the personal property parcels (businesses) which will undergo close inspections for each of the four years in the update cycle. Parcels are required to be inspected only one time during the update cycle.2. 25% Real Property List a list of parcels by map numbers that nearly approximates 25% of the total real property parcels in a county. Such parcels will be subject to selection for audit by the property tax office. The list is due to the property tax office by January 1st of the audit year. The property tax office will approve the 25% real property list. 100% of all real property parcels must be closely inspected during the update cycle.3. Additions - items of personal property added to a business since the last roll year.4. Appraisal Manualthe current Mississippi Appraisal Manual with current revisions as produced by the property tax office.5. Assessment equity test the test for price related bias. Price related bias occurs when appraised values are slanted in favor of lower-priced properties or higher-priced properties. The formula for the assessment equity test is the mean divided by the weighted mean. If the resulting number is above one, regressivity is indicated. This indicates that high-value properties are under-appraised relative to low-value properties. If the result is below one, progressivity is indicated. Progressivity indicates that high-value properties are over-appraised relative to low-value properties.6. Assessment Level Test the overall ratio of appraised values to market values in a statistical study. For the purposes of this rule, the level of assessment will be measured by the median.7. Assessment Uniformity Test the test for fairness of individual assessments. It is measured by the coefficient of dispersion about the median.8. Asset - any item that is used in the operation of a business.9. Asset List - a detailed listing furnished by a business containing personal property items purchased for use in a business. The list should include description, original acquisition cost new, and the actual age of each item.10. Base Year the year immediately succeeding the most current update year.11. Business - any commercial establishment, industry, or research and development facility.12. Close Inspection of Real Property - physically inspecting real property parcels for property tax purposes by viewing them closely with property record card in hand.13. Coefficient of Dispersion About the Median - a numerical value that measures the average percentage deviation of the ratios from the median in a statistical study.14. Commission - the State Tax Commission, the Chairman and Associate Commissioners.15. Consigned Items - items delivered or transferred to the control of another's care in anticipation of sale.16. County Audit - the verification process performed by the property tax office to determine whether counties have equalized values within given classes of property and have complied with the provisions of this rule to insure that values have been equalized.17. County Building Index - a calculated number used to adjust the costs in the appraisal manual to meet local construction costs, including, but not limited to, labor, materials and profit. Such index is applied to real property improvements as provided in the appraisal manual.18. Deed Log - a record of all deeds filed in the Chancery Clerk's office during a calendar year. It must contain all data required by the appraisal manual.19. Deletions - items of personal property removed from a business during the prior roll year.20. Depreciation - the loss in value of any item.21. Drive-by Inspection - the process of reviewing parcels from a motor vehicle to determine whether changes have occurred to the parcels. Drive-bys are an acceptable means of performing real property maintenance. 22. Error Points - points used in the determination of passing or failing the county audit. They are assigned to a category based upon the seriousness of the error with category I errors being the most serious and category III being the least serious.23. Itemized Listing - an asset list or a detailed listing produced by a contractor acting on behalf of a county, or by a county appraiser.24. Inventory - an itemized list of goods on hand and available for sale by a business. It may include, but is not limited to; products held in reserve or put on shelves for sale, resale or consumption by the public. They may be raw materials, work in progress, finished goods, consigned goods, or ingredients used in food preparation.25. Leased Equipment - personal property items furnished by another business which are used under terms of a contact or agreement.26. Mapping Reconciliation - a verification accounting of parcels on the maps within a county to insure that they are accounted for on the land roll.27. Median - the midpoint or middle value when a set of values is ranked in order of magnitude.28. Order - A document issued by the Commission which identifies the assessment levels of a class or classes of property and whether the county is in compliance with the regulations of the commission. It further identifies any corrective actions necessary for counties that are not in compliance.29. Personal Property Close Inspection - an on-site physical examination of the personal property items associated with a business. The examination is performed with property record card in hand by a contractor acting on behalf of a county or by a county appraiser.30. Property Record Card - a permanent card or computer generated facsimile of a card containing information about the parcel that it represents. Information on the card shall adhere to the requirements of the appraisal manual.31. Property Tax Office - the Property Tax Office of the Mississippi State Tax Commission or the employees of same.32. Real Property Maintenance the annual process of adding new properties to the tax roll, adding additions to existing properties on the tax roll, and deleting structures from the tax roll which have been removed from existing parcels.33. Rendition - the actual listing of personal property completed by the taxpayer or other preparer, signed by the taxpayer, and returned to the tax assessor's office. A summary of the taxpayer's property with individual additions and deletions noted is likewise considered a rendition, providing the assessor has a complete detail listing of the taxpayer's personal property signed by the taxpayer.34. State Index - The state index is a calculated number which represents a multiplier used to bring costs in the appraisal manual to the actual cost of constructing an improvement. The state index will not be calculated from construction occurring in counties having a population exceeding 40,000 according to the 2000 U.S. census.35. Trending Factors or Multipliers - tables provided by the property tax office annually that adjust for inflation in industries.36. Update - the process that each county must complete every four years in which every parcel is closely inspected to determine whether changes have occurred. All parcels must be revalued during the update cycle.37. Update Year - the last year of the county's four-year cycle, or the year approved by the property tax office as the update year.38. Update Cycle - the update cycle is the four year period commencing with the base year and ending with the update year. The update cycle may vary from four years only with the approval of the property tax office.35 Miss. Code. R. 6-02-06-301