KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The deadline looms for Jackson County commercial property owners to appeal their property assessments.
Property owners have until Monday, July 14, to file their appeals.
To educate the public on the appeals process, several Jackson County legislators held a town hall on Wednesday for commercial property owners.
For some business owners, the dramatic increases in their property assessments have them considering selling their properties or relocating them outside the county.
Parker Bender has operated an auto parts manufacturing business in Independence for the past eight years. Bender owns a storage building he uses for his business.
The Jackson County property assessment of his storage building's market value this year is 400% higher than last year.
"It's not a million-dollar building," Bender said. "If someone wants to give me that, you can hunt me down."
The property's market value jumped from $133,000 to $667,000.
"It almost feels hostile," Bender said.
Robert Murphy, a former Jackson County assessor who now works as an attorney, understands the property assessment and appeals processes.
Murphy had a clear message for property owners about an appeal of their assessment.
"Get it filed," Murphy urged.
Murphy told KSHB 41 News reporter Ryan Gamboa that in 2019, Jackson County broke a record for the number of appeals filed at 19,000.
In 2023, that record was shattered when 54,000 appeals were filed.
"We will probably have 50-60% of all commercial parcels appealed," Murphy said. "That's an unprecedented amount. This even makes it hard for taxing jurisdictions to set an accurate levy when you have so much value under appeal."
He said that it could take another two years to get through this year's appeals.
Murphy warns that dramatic assessment increases could have serious consequences for the county.
"If the assessments take wild, wild jumps, people just start to move out of here and go to a different county," Murphy said.
Moving out of Jackson County is already on the minds of some business owners.
"I almost take it personally," Bender said. "It almost makes a guy consider slipping outside the county somewhere else."
For more information on how to appeal, click here.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
KSHB 41 reporter Ryan Gamboa covers Miami County in Kansas and Cass County in Missouri. He also covers agricultural topics. Share your story idea with Ryan.
—
