KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Time has run out for Jackson County property owners to file an appeal of this year's assessments, but the hearing process that now follows for thousands of residents isn't very clear.
Jackson County Public Information Officer Marshanna Hester said the Jackson County Board of Equalization had received 14,040 formal appeals around noon on Tuesday, which was the twice-extended deadling for property owners to file a formal appeal of 2019-20 assessments.
Hester said a final number should be available later in the week.
Kansas City resident Minh Ha went to the Jackson County courthouse Tuesday to file his appeal before the deadline. It wasn't his first trip to the Board of Equalization office.
"Every time you come down here, it's always something," Ha said. "You have to have this; you have to have that."
Now that his appeal is filed, he knows it's going to be a waiting game.
The Board of Equalization requires everyone who files a formal appeal to appear for a public, in-person hearing.
According to the Board's website, it will mail out a date, time and location to everyone who has completed the appeal. The Board requires everyone to bring documentation that might help them plead their case.
Preston Smith represents the Blue Springs School District on the Board.
He worries property owners will only be given a few minutes to plead their case, since there are so many appeals to get through, and also has concerns about the hearing officers that the Board is hiring to help with the hearings.
"I'm a little concerned there might be some conflict of interests," Smith said. "I don't know how much of a background check these hearing officers are actually going to go through."
A message 41 Action News left with Chairman of the Board of Equalization Christopher Smith seeking to clarify how many minutes each person will be given in their appeals hearing and what background checks the hearing officers will go through went unreturned.
The Jackson County Legislature tabled Smith's proposal for a 14%-increase cap county-wide, but Smith said lawmakers have the power to consider a 15%-cap proposal at a Sept. 9 meeting.
He believes if the proposal went into effect, it immediately would cancel out about 3/4s of the appeals.
The Board has a procedural meeting about the hearing process scheduled for 9 a.m. on Sept. 4.
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