{"county":"shelby","description":"The Shelby County Assessor of Property locates, identifies, classifies, and appraises all real and personal property in the county for tax purposes. The office runs the state-mandated quadrennial reappraisal (next cycle: 2029), appraises personal property annually, and maintains approximately 353,000 real-estate parcels. The Assessor **does not** set the tax rate, send tax bills, or collect taxes \u2014 those duties belong to the County Commission (rate), the Trustee (collection), and the Clerk (registration-linked functions).","district":"Shelby","districtgroup":"county","id":76,"key":"assessor_of_property","lastchangeby":null,"name":"Melvin Burgess","next_election":"2018-11-08","notes":"86","officegroup":null,"partisan":0,"party":"","qualities":"- **Personnel management at scale.** Leading and retaining a department of ~150\u2013200 appraisers, GIS analysts, and customer-service staff responsible for ~353,000 parcels and a multi-million-dollar budget.\n- **Real-estate appraisal and property-law expertise.** Familiarity with mass-appraisal methods, comparable-sales analysis, the four-year reappraisal cycle, and Tennessee assessment law (TN Code Title 67 Ch. 5), including exemption rules and the Board of Equalization appeals process.\n- **Technology and systems oversight.** Ability to evaluate, procure, and administer Computer-Assisted Mass Appraisal (CAMA) software, GIS platforms, and the data infrastructure modern assessment depends on.\n- **Integrity and impartiality.** A demonstrated record of even-handed decision-making. Property valuation directly affects every taxpayer's bill, so the office's perceived fairness \u2014 under pressure from large taxpayers, political allies, and the public alike \u2014 is as important as the technical result.\n- **Public communication.** Explaining assessment methodology clearly to homeowners receiving increase notices, to journalists, and to the public bodies (County Commission, Board of Equalization, State Board of Equalization) the office reports to.","quantity":1,"source":null,"state":"TN","term_end":"2026-09-01","term_start":"2018-09-01","term_years":4,"terms":[{"current":1,"description":"","electiondate":"2018-08-02","name":"Melvin Burgess","person":{"biography":"## Current office and 2026 campaign\n- Shelby County Assessor of Property since 2018; re-elected August 4, 2022. Current term ends September 1, 2026. ([Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Melvin_Burgess), [UT CTAS directory](https://www.ctas.tennessee.edu/official/melvin-burgess))\n- Named 2021 Tennessee Assessor of the Year. ([campaign site](https://www.burgessfor901.com/about))\n- Office: 1075 Mullins Station, Memphis, TN 38134.\n\n- Candidate in the Democratic primary on May 5, 2026 \u2014 one of seven Democrats running for the open mayor's seat after incumbent Lee Harris was term-limited. General election August 6, 2026. ([Wikipedia: 2026 Shelby County mayoral election](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Shelby_County,_Tennessee_mayoral_election), [Fox 13 Memphis, 7 Dems field](https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/7-democrats-face-off-to-win-nomination-in-shelby-county-mayoral-race/article_6be2d526-e0df-4cb1-ad47-2bdf478e8f25.html))\n- Campaign site: [burgessfor901.com](https://www.burgessfor901.com/)\n\n- Per his campaign, his office's work contributed to a reduction of the property tax rate from $3.39 to $2.69 per $100 assessed value before FY 2026, attributed in part to the assessor's \"new growth\" discovery. ([campaign post, 2026](https://www.burgessfor901.com/post/county-mayor-candidate-talks-mata-taxes-and-development))\n- At candidate forums, has emphasized transit (\"We've got to work together to fix that transportation issue\"), blight (\"All these properties that are out there like that, give them back to the CDCs\"), and inclusive governance (\"Everybody will have a seat at the table\"). ([campaign post, 2026](https://www.burgessfor901.com/post/county-mayor-candidate-talks-mata-taxes-and-development))\n\n## Background and education\n- B.S. in Accounting, Grambling State University. Product of Memphis City Schools. ([campaign site](https://www.burgessfor901.com/about))\n\n## Career\n- Former Chief Internal Auditor, Memphis/Shelby County Schools.\n- Founded the Shelby County Commission's Audit Committee; former Shelby County Board Chairman; founder of the Shelby County Appraisal Institute. ([campaign site](https://www.burgessfor901.com/about))\n\n- Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity; Delta Boule Chapter of Sigma Pi Phi. ([campaign site](https://www.burgessfor901.com/about))\n\n---\n\n*Compiled from publicly available web sources on 2026-04-18. Several campaign accomplishments (backlog elimination, award recognition details) are sourced from the campaign's own site and were not independently confirmed in this pass.*\n\n## Office history\n- Shelby County Board of Commissioners, District 7, 2010\u20132018. Succeeded by Tami Sawyer. ([Ballotpedia](https://ballotpedia.org/Melvin_Burgess))\n\n## Business interests and wealth source\n- **2026** \u2014 [Property Assessor (SS-8005)](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=BURGESS&id=18831&f=200748&v=1) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n- **2026** \u2014 [County Mayor (SS-8005)](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=BURGESS&id=18831&f=200751&v=1) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n- **2025** \u2014 [Property Assessor (SS-8005)](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=BURGESS&id=18831&f=190053&v=1) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n- **2024** \u2014 [Property Assessor (SS-8005)](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/view_form_8005.htm?name=BURGESS&id=18831&f=174178&v=1) \u2014 filed as a Shelby County official/candidate\n\n*Source: [Tennessee Ethics Commission Statement of Interest Search](https://conflict.app.tn.gov/conflict/search.htm). Scraped 2026-04-25.*\n\n## Family\n- Wife Sandra; two daughters; family resides in the Evergreen Historic District of Midtown Memphis.\n- Father was Melvin Burgess, a former Memphis Police Director. ([campaign site](https://www.burgessfor901.com/about), [Fox 13 Memphis](https://www.fox13memphis.com/news/7-democrats-face-off-to-win-nomination-in-shelby-county-mayoral-race/article_6be2d526-e0df-4cb1-ad47-2bdf478e8f25.html))\n","firstname":"Melvin","lastname":"Burgess","token":"IELQJBLYKr"},"term_end":"2026-09-01","term_start":"2018-09-01"}],"title":"Assessor of Property","type":"executive","url":null,"whenchanged":"2026-05-25 21:44:16"}