Assessor Sending “Change of Assessment” Notices to Landowners

April 26, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

DeKalb County Property Assessor Shannon A Cantrell has announced that change of assessment notices for the 2021 reappraisal year will be mailed on April 28, 2021.

DeKalb County is on a five-year reappraisal cycle, which means sales over the previous four years are analyzed to come up with the new value for the fifth year. According to Cantrell, most real property owners will see an increase in their appraisal due to the high sale prices over the past four years. But Assessor Cantrell also explained that just because your appraisal value may have increased does not necessarily mean that your property tax bill will increase. Typically, in a reappraisal year, the DeKalb County Commission would decrease the tax rate to bring in the same revenue as the prior year. The tax rate is set each year by the county commission based upon budgetary needs.

If you have any questions about your appraisal, you may contact the Property Assessor’s Office at (615) 597-5925 May 3 through May 7, from 8:00AM to 4:30PM for an informal appeal, over the phone or in person. The County Board of Equalization will be meeting Tuesday June 1 through Friday June 4, and again on Monday June 7 from 8:30AM to 4:00PM. If you would like to schedule a meeting with the County Board of Equalization, you may do so by calling (615) 597-5925 beginning May 18.

April 26, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Many people cleaned out their medicine cabinets of unwanted, out of date, or no longer needed prescriptions and brought them to the Smithville and Alexandria city halls for disposal Saturday during the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day.

Lisa Cripps, local Coordinator of the DeKalb Prevention Coalition, said more than 40 pounds of prescription drugs and controlled substances were collected for disposal Saturday at Smithville and Alexandria.

The event was sponsored by the DeKalb Prevention Coalition and supported by the DeKalb County Health Department, and local law enforcement officers and constables.

“Take-Back Days in April and October each year are a safe and easy way to protect your loved ones and to get these drugs out of your home,” added Cripps.

April 25, 2021
By: Dwayne Page

Following a slight rise in the statewide unemployment rate in March, jobless statistics experienced minor increases in most of Tennessee’s 95 counties, according to newly released data from the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (TDLWD).

DeKalb County’s jobless rate for March was 6%, up from 5.4% in February which was also the March, 2020 unemployment rate (5.4%)

The local labor force for March was 7,635. A total of 7,175 were employed and 460 were unemployed.

Five counties across the state did experience lower unemployment for the month, while rates went up in 86 counties, and remained the same in four counties.

Thirty-two of Tennessee’s counties had a jobless rate of less than 5%. The remaining 63 counties recorded a rate of 5% or higher.

Williamson County’s jobless statistic of 3.3% was the lowest in the state. Its March rate was 0.3 of a percentage point higher than it was in February.

At 3.6%, Moore County posted the second-lowest rate in the state but that is a 0.1 of a percentage point increase from the previous month. Wilson County’s rate of 4% was the third lowest in March, which is an increase of 0.3 of a percentage point.

Unemployment in Lake County decreased by 0.1 of a percentage point to 8.9%, which is the state’s highest rate for the month.

Perry County’s rate of 7.5% was 0.2 of a percentage point higher than the previous month’s rate. Unemployment in Bledsoe county went up 0.5 of a percentage point to 7.4%.

Statewide, seasonally adjusted unemployment inched up 0.1 of a percentage point to 5% in March.

Nationally, unemployment dropped 0.2 of a percentage point to 6%.

The state offers online options for Tennesseans searching for employment. Currently, on Jobs4TN.gov, job seekers can find more than 240,000 open positions in a wide range of occupations and skill levels. The Tennessee Virtual American Job Center www.TNVirtualAJC.com allows Tennesseans to research different programs, from different state agencies that can help them remove barriers to employment so they can more easily reenter the workforce.