Looking for a refund on Jackson County property tax payments? ‘It’s not going to happen’

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Leaders from Jackson County issued a rebuttal to the Missouri State Tax Commission’s order regarding Jackson County property tax assessment, repeating their claims of a fair assessment and vowing to fight the STC order.

At a news conference Monday morning, county assessor Gail McCann Beatty said one of the issues is that property values have risen sharply because of the strong real estate market.

“Property values in Jackson County have been significantly undervalued for decades,” said McCann Beatty.” Our priority has been focused on correcting these (values).”

County administrator Troy Schulte said the action by the STC does not fix the problem, and ultimately, taxpayers will have to pay more.

ALSO READ: Homeowners call Jackson County Assessor liar following testimony in tax assessment trial

“So, I wanted to disabuse people that they’re going to get some lovely refund check because of because of this egregious error, but it’s not going to happen,” said Schulte. “In most cases, you’re going pay a lot more.”

He said those losses to tax revenue will have to be made up somewhere.

“What you’re going to do, is you’re going to see some people that had large increases will pay slightly less but it will be offset by people who would maybe didn’t see as large of a tax increase paying significantly more,” said Shulte. “And that’s the reality we’re going to deal with over the next couple of months unless we can find a solution to this.”

Schulte said the county will work with the 57 taxing jurisdictions within Jackson County to fight the order.

ALSO READ: ‘Devastating’: What rolling back property tax assessments could mean for schools

“If we are forced to comply with this order, as written, we can face substantial cuts to central services,” said Schulte. “This includes vital areas like our schools, fire protection and police departments.”

Five county legislators said they agree with the STC and are meeting Monday afternoon. Some legislators want to prohibit county funds from being used to fight the order.

“They created the mess. And so the reality is, we have to fix it,” said county legislator Manny Abarca. “We have to find common solutions.”

Schulte said he was confident that ultimately the county administration would win this battle.

“I think we are seven for seven or eight or eight in terms of court challenges and results in our favor,” said Schulte.

ALSO READ: Judge dismisses Jackson County property tax lawsuit

For more reports on Tax Assessment Trouble, click here.

Copyright 2024 KCTV. All rights reserved.