Missouri Attorney General launches tip line for victims of Jackson County property tax assessments

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey announced Monday that he’s opening a tip line for victims of Jackson County’s tax assessment troubles.

Bailey has a trial scheduled for June against Jackson County after issues with homeowners’ tax assessments have troubled residents for more than a year.

“Missourians are already struggling to make ends meet in Joe Biden’s economy,” Bailey said in a release Monday night. “For Jackson County to take advantage of its residents on top of that is not only unlawful -- it’s despicable. We go to trial in just over one month. In order to rectify the situation, we need to provide the Court with a full picture of what went wrong here.”

Bailey encouraged Jackson County residents impacted by what he described as “undue taxes” to reach out to his office.

“We want to hear from you,” the attorney general said.

Bailey’s lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial June 6. In the lawsuit, he asserts Jackson County caused significant economic harm to residents when it “dramatically and illegally increased property owner’s assessments which resulted in undue taxes.” It also claims county officials violated state law by failing to give timely and proper notice of assessments.

The lawsuit was filed in December 2023.

A link to the tip hotline can be found here.