Jackson County legislators say it’s time to stop fighting, start fixing property tax problem

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - On the heels of the State Tax Commission’s order to Jackson County to correct its 2023 property tax assessment roll, more resistance from the administration, and reaction from legislators has come in.

The order was seen as vindication for many taxpayers hit with property tax assessments 30%, 40%, 50%, or more higher compared to their previous assessments.

The tax commission ordered those increases be capped at 15%, for 2023 and 2024.

In a new release on Thursday, the commission said, “The Commission reached its decision to issue an Order after examining a substantial amount of information which it has acquired over the last few months, including but not limited to County assessment records and sworn statements of County officials which it obtained through discovery in its lawsuit against Jackson County.”

That lawsuit has been dismissed at the Attorney General’s request because the order accomplishes the same thing the lawsuit was seeking.

But that doesn’t mean that the assessor’s office conceded. The county claims that all the criticism of the assessment is politically motivated. County administrators vow to fight the order and on Thursday reiterated that rolling back the assessments will hurt schools and city services.

READ MORE: Homeowners are ‘cautiously hopeful’ after State Tax Commission order in 2023 tax assessment

But some county legislators support the tax commission.

“I welcome the reality that they have brought to this process that, unfortunately, the executive and the administration have refused to use their power to do,” said legislator Manny Abarca.

Abarca and legislator Sean Smith called a news conference of their own on Thursday and invited other legislators to join them. DaRon McGee, Donna Payton and Venessa Huskey were there in support.

“The administration has put out press releases and they say things like, ‘Jackson County unequivocally rejects the state tax commission,’” said Sean Smith. “Well, let’s be honest. As a legislative body, we are part of Jackson County. They’ve done this again without consulting us. They pretend that as the executive branch of government, one half of Jackson County’s government, that they are the only thing that matters.”

Legislators said that Monday legislation will be introduced that would prohibit county attorneys from using taxpayer resources to fight the order.

“We’re going to make sure that we don’t challenge, from the county’s perspective, the State Tax Commission ruling and we move forward from here, giving taxpayers relief,” said Abarca.

“The reality is that we all need to focus now on getting this fixed,” said Smith.

For more coverage on the Jackson County property tax assessment troubles, visit here.

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