Independence County Arkansas Property Tax Calculator

How Independence County property taxes are calculated

Arkansas assesses real property at 20% of market value. Independence County then multiplies that assessed figure by the total millage for the parcel's school district and city, where one mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value. The $600 homestead credit comes off last, and only a qualifying primary residence can claim it.

Here is the working for a $200,000 home in Batesville, inside the Batesville #1 district, which carries 53.35 mills for 2026 collections:

1. $200,000 market value times 20% equals $40,000 assessed value.
2. $40,000 times 53.35 divided by 1,000 equals $2,134 tax before credit.
3. Subtract the $600 homestead credit to reach $1,534 estimated annual tax, or $127.83 a month.

Move the same house out to the rural tier of Hillcrest #22 at 44.5 mills and the tax before credit drops to $1,780, or $1,180 after the credit. Same house, roughly $354 less a year. Independence County's own assessor page adds one local wrinkle worth reading before you use any average: it describes the county as running a countywide appraisal every three years, while the state administers a four-year reappraisal cycle.

Independence County millage rates by district and city

All seventeen rows below are taxing combinations published for Independence County for 2026 collections, with school, city and county columns reconciling to the overall figure. Seven school districts touch the county and ten cities levy a tax, which is what produces the longest millage table of this batch.

Independence County rows are from the Arkansas DFA Assessment Coordination Division 2025 Millage Report, covering 2026 collections and issued March 2026. The report lists seventeen taxing combinations for the county, all shown above.

Why Independence County property tax rates differ by address

Independence County's variation is driven almost entirely by school levies, because the county rate is a flat 8.6 mills everywhere and the city levies range from nothing to 6 mills. Two districts in particular do the heavy lifting: Southside #3 levies the county's highest school rate at 45 mills, and Hillcrest #22 the lowest at 35.9, a 9.1 mill gap before any city tax is added.

• Cheapest combination: rural Hillcrest #22 at 44.5 mills. Hillcrest is the county's lowest school levy at 35.9 mills, and the rural tier adds no city tax, leaving 35.9 plus the flat 8.6 county rate.
• Dearest combination: Pleasant Plains inside Midland #19 at 55.4 mills. Midland levies 42 school mills and Pleasant Plains adds 4.8 city mills on top of the 8.6 county rate, which is 10.9 mills above the county floor.
• Southside is the oddity worth knowing. The town of Southside levies a zero city millage, yet a Southside address lands at 53.6 mills, the second highest row in the table, purely because the Southside #3 school district charges 45 mills. A town with no city tax can still carry one of the county's highest rates.
• Batesville city pays 6 mills, the highest city levy in the county. Its 6 mills split into 5 mills of city general and 1 mill for police. Combined with the Batesville #1 school rate it produces 53.35 mills, which is the same overall figure a Cave City address pays even though Cave City's school levy is 0.25 mills lower and its city levy is 5.75 mills.
• No Independence city sits inside two school districts this year. The state report places each of the ten millage-levying towns in a single district, so the spread between towns comes from school charges and city levies rather than from split boundaries.
• Five districts fringe in from neighbouring counties. Cedar Ridge arrives from Sharp, Midland from White and Cleburne, Cave City from Sharp and Izard, Concord from Cleburne and Stone, and Hillcrest from Lawrence and Sharp. All five arrive as rural tiers.

Source: Arkansas DFA Assessment Coordination Division, 2025 Millage Report (2026 Collections), Independence County page, city millage breakdown and fringe district notes.

Independence County cities and communities

Batesville

Batesville is the county seat, the largest city and the only Independence County town levying 6 mills, the county's highest city rate. A Batesville address inside the Batesville #1 district pays 53.35 mills: 38.75 in school levies, 6 in city levies and the flat 8.6 county rate. The city levy itself is 5 mills general plus 1 mill police. Batesville also absorbs several smaller communities: the state report records Sulphur Rock and Cushman consolidating into Batesville #1 for school purposes, so those towns appear as city tiers inside the Batesville district.

Newark and Magness

Newark and Magness both sit in Cedar Ridge #8, formed when Cord-Charlotte consolidated with Newark. Newark levies the county's second-highest city rate at 5.5 mills and lands at 52.3, while Magness levies 5 and lands at 51.8. The 0.5 mill gap between two towns in the same school district is entirely city levy.

Oil Trough and Cushman

Oil Trough levies 2.5 city mills at 49.3 mills overall, and Cushman levies 1.4 at 48.75. Both sit below the county average of 50.5 despite being incorporated, because their city levies are among the lowest in Independence County.

Southside

Southside levies no city property tax at all, yet a Southside address carries 53.6 mills because the Southside #3 school district levies 45 mills, the highest school rate in the county. It is the clearest example in Independence County of a rate being set by the school district rather than by town hall.

Cave City and Pleasant Plains

Cave City levies 5.75 mills and sits in a district that reaches in from Sharp and Izard counties, producing 53.35 mills. Pleasant Plains levies 4.8 inside Midland #19 and lands at 55.4, the county's highest published combination.

Rural Independence County

Land outside town limits sits in one of the seven rural tiers, from 44.5 mills in Hillcrest #22 up to 53.6 in Southside #3. Rural parcels pay the flat 8.6 mill county rate and no city tax, so the cheapest rural bills in the county belong to Hillcrest and Concord territory.

Independence County Assessor

Official name: Independence County Assessor's Office. The assessor maintains tax rolls of property owners from deeds filed in the circuit clerk's office, keeps the school district record for every parcel, discovers and values improvements in each taxing entity, assesses personal property from January 1 through May 31, and prepares and certifies the annual assessment roll.

The office works from the Courthouse Annex Building on Broad Street rather than the main courthouse, which is a short walk apart in Batesville.

Source conflict worth labelling: the county assessor's own page states that the office conducts a countywide appraisal every three (3) years, while the Arkansas Assessment Coordination Division administers a statewide four-year reappraisal cycle. The state cycle governs how county-wide reappraisal years are scheduled, so treat the state four-year framework as the current rule and read the county's three-year wording as its own description of its work programme. Personal property side note: the assessor's page states that assessments run January 1 through May 31 and that property bought after May 31 is listed separately. The mechanics are explained in the Arkansas personal property assessment deadline.

Independence County Collector

Official name: Independence County Tax Collector's Office. The collector is responsible for collecting all personal and real estate taxes, which in Independence County means the public schools, county general, county library, county roads, solid waste, city taxes, timber tax and special assessments such as the Departee Creek and Curia Creek drainage districts. The office does not set values.

Independence County publishes its payment route in one sentence: the collector's page says to search tax records or pay taxes online at actDataScout. The county also links a separate records and receipts search, and both the assessor and the collector are in the Courthouse Annex Building at 110 Broad Street, two floors of the same address.

How to find a Independence County parcel's exact tax

Independence County runs its public record search on actDataScout and states directly that payment happens there too. Personal property assessment is separate, on ScoutAssess. There is no county-built search system, so those two platforms and the collector's own office are the full official route.

1. Open the Independence County real property index on actDataScout. Search by owner name, address or parcel number.
2. On the parcel record, read the market value against the assessed value. Arkansas assessed value is 20% of market value unless an Amendment 79 cap or a freeze is in play.
3. Note the school district. Independence County has seven districts touching it, and that field alone spans 35.9 to 45 mills of school levy.
4. Note the city. Ten Independence County towns levy a tax, from Cushman at 1.4 mills to Batesville at 6.
5. To confirm what was billed and paid, use the tax collector's record and receipt search, and to pay online use the same actDataScout route the county links from its collector page.

Sources: www.independencecounty.com/county-tax-collec www.actdatascout.com/TaxCollector/Arkansas/I www.independencecounty.com/county-collector/

Paying Independence County property taxes

Independence County taxes are collected from the first business day in March through October 15, which is the last day to pay without a penalty. Payments can be made at the collector's office in the Courthouse Annex Building, 110 Broad Street in Batesville, or online through actDataScout, the route the county's collector page names.

The county does not publish a card or convenience fee schedule on its collector page, so check the processing fee on the payment screen before confirming. Personal property must be assessed before it can be billed, and the assessor's assessment window closes on May 31, so a vehicle bought in the spring should be assessed early enough to reach the same tax book.

Homestead credit in Independence County

The Arkansas homestead credit is not automatic. You apply through the county assessor's office in the county where the home sits, which in Independence County means the office in the Courthouse Annex Building at 110 Broad Street in Batesville.

The maximum credit depends on which bill you are paying. A 2026 bill carries up to $600, and from the 2027 tax bills the maximum rises to $675. The calculator above models a 2026 bill and uses $600.

Independence County's assessor handles the homestead application as part of its exemption work alongside other assessment questions, and the office is the correct first call for both the credit and the age 65 or disabled assessed value freeze. The state DFA property tax relief page explains the one-credit-per-household rule and the freeze in detail, and the filing steps are laid out in claiming the Arkansas homestead credit.

Appealing a Independence County assessment

Independence County publishes the most useful appeal guidance of any county in this batch, and it starts with the clerk's office rather than the board. The county's equalization board page explains that the clerk of the county court serves as secretary of the board, keeps the journal of proceedings and files member details with the state. In practice that makes the county clerk the office to call.

The board is five members, and the county names them by the body that selected them: one appointed by the county judge, one selected by the school districts, one selected by the cities and incorporated towns, and two selected by the quorum court. The published members for 2026 are Parmer Hankins for the judge's appointment, Gary Anderson for the school districts, Arthur Montgomery for the cities, and Darrell Robertson and Allan W. McSpadden for the quorum court.

To be heard, apply to the board through the county clerk by the statewide deadline of the third Monday in August. The application can be made in person, by letter or by petition. At the hearing the assessor presents the valuation case first, then you present evidence, then the assessor may respond, and the board decides whether to accept or change the value.

Independence County Clerk's office: 192 E. Main Street, Batesville, phone (870) 793-8828. The clerk's published role as board secretary is set out on the county's own equalization board page. For what happens after a board decision, including the route onward to county court, see how the Arkansas appeal process works and the site's appeal guide.

Independence County property tax examples

Each row uses the Independence County average of 50.50 mills for 2026 collections with one $600 homestead credit applied. Treat them as estimates; your parcel sits in one specific district and city combination.

Calculated at the 50.50 mill Independence County average for 2026 collections. Each row applies one $600 credit for a qualifying primary residence.

Independence County median home value and median tax

This block is historical and statistical information for comparison. It does not feed the calculator and does not describe any single parcel.

Independence County's median home value of $142,600 pairs with a median annual real estate tax of $750 in the Census tables, an effective rate near 0.53%. That sits in the middle of the five counties rebuilt in this batch, which fits a county average millage of 50.5.

The arithmetic gap is the useful part. Running $142,600 through the 20% assessment ratio at the 50.50 mill average implies roughly $1,440 before credit, close to double the surveyed $750. Amendment 79 caps on taxable value, the share of parcels sitting in the cheaper rural tiers and homestead credits already applied to many owner-occupied homes all explain the difference. Use the Census figures for context and the calculator above for planning.

Sources: B25077, median value; B25103, median tax; B01003, population. These are survey estimates and carry sampling error.

Independence County property tax questions

• What is the property tax rate in Independence County Arkansas?+

  The county average is 50.50 mills for 2026 collections, made up of 39.59 school mills, 3.93 city mills and a flat 8.6 mill county levy. Published combinations run from 44.5 mills in the rural Hillcrest #22 tier to 55.4 mills for a Pleasant Plains address inside Midland #19.

• Why does Southside have one of the highest rates with no city tax?+

  Because the school district sets the rate, not the town. Southside levies zero city millage, but the Southside #3 school district charges 45 mills, the highest school rate in Independence County. Add the flat 8.6 mill county levy and a Southside address reaches 53.6 mills.

• How do I look up an Independence County parcel and its tax?+

  Use the Independence County real property index on actDataScout and search by owner, address or parcel number. Read the market and assessed values, then note the school district and city fields, because those decide your millage row. The collector's record and receipt search on the same platform shows what was billed and paid.

• Where do I pay Independence County property taxes?+

  The county's collector page directs taxpayers to actDataScout to pay online, and in person at the Courthouse Annex Building, 110 Broad Street, Batesville, AR 72501. The collection window runs from the first business day in March to October 15, which is the last day without a penalty.

• Who is on the Independence County Board of Equalization?+

  Five members, named by the bodies that select them. Parmer Hankins is appointed by the county judge, Gary Anderson is selected by the school districts, Arthur Montgomery by the cities and incorporated towns, and Darrell Robertson and Allan W. McSpadden by the quorum court. The county clerk serves as secretary to the board.

• How do I file an appeal in Independence County?+

  Apply to the Independence County Board of Equalization through the county clerk's office at 192 E. Main Street, Batesville, by the statewide deadline of the third Monday in August. The application can be made in person, by letter or by petition. Ask the assessor's office for an informal review of the valuation first, since Arkansas law provides for that step before a formal filing.

• What is the homestead credit worth in Independence County?+

  Up to $600 on a 2026 tax bill, rising to a maximum of $675 from the 2027 tax bills. Apply once through the Independence County Assessor's Office in the Courthouse Annex Building at 110 Broad Street in Batesville, and only a primary residence qualifies.

• What taxes does the Independence County collector collect?+

  Public school, county general, county library, county roads, solid waste, city taxes and timber tax, plus special assessments including the Departee Creek and Curia Creek drainage districts. The collector bills and collects; valuation questions still belong to the assessor.

Nearby county pages

Official sources