State Tax Commission orders Jackson County to change some 2023 assessments

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The state of Missouri is coming down hard on the Jackson County Executive and the county Assessment Department.

The Missouri State Tax Commission (STC) ordered the county must limit assessment increases in 2023 to 15 percent in most cases.

Thousands of Kansas City property owners appealed to the tax commission after their appeals to the county’s Board of Equalization failed.

The commission determined that the county did not give proper notification of the increases, and that the county did not comply with state laws requiring inspections when the assessed valuation of the property increased by more than 15 percent since the last assessment.

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The commission determined the failures “were widespread and systemic, affecting at least 75 percent of the parcels to which these requirements applied.”

The commission ordered that the county must limit the increase in valuations to 15 percent of the last assessment, except for increases due to construction or improvements.

This is an unusual move.

“I have not found a case where this precise action has been taken by the State Tax Commission,” said tax attorney Sherry DeJanes.

Jackson County has 30 days to review some assessments and notify the State Tax Commission for any amounts exceeding the 15 percent limit.

The order also states that the assessed valuation for 2024 properties stay the same as 2023 unless there’s new construction or improvements.

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Jackson County responded to the commission’s order in a news release. The county said it “unequivocally rejects the order, deeming it “both inaccurate and dangerously politicized.”

Data expert Preston Smith, who has been highly critical of the 2023 tax assessment praised the commission’s order.

“This is the beginning of justice for the people of Jackson County,” said Smith. “We’ve already seen the county raise a fight, so (its response) is no surprise. We’re dealing with a special kind of people here. People that lie, change facts, ready to do whatever it takes to get their way.”

This order for the Missouri State Tax Commission is separate from the ongoing lawsuit currently going on in Jackson County. The commission and the Missouri Attorney General sued the county claiming state laws were broken, and asked a judge to void the increases property owners paid.

Some have questioned why the commission waited until now to take this step. DeJanes told us it is widely belirved that the commission has always had the power to do it.

“It probably has something to do the court reconvening in the Attorney General and State Tax Commission lawsuit against the Jackson County Assessor and the Board of Equalization,” said DeJanes.

That case was set to continue in the Jackson County courthouse on Friday. Late Wednesday, Bailey’s legal team filed a motion to dismiss the case. The motion argued the lawsuit was no longer necessary in light of the STC’s order.

In the release today, the county claimed the order is “nothing more than a litigation tactic from politically motivated actions who are ill-informed and acting in bad faith.”

That case continues in the Jackson County courthouse on Friday.

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