KANSAS CITY, Mo. — On Tuesday, the Missouri State Tax Commission ordered Jackson County officials to "correct" the 2023 and 2024 Assessment Rolls to reflect a tax commission order from August 2024.
The commission stated in an order to Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr., Jackson County Assessor Gail McCann Beatty and the Jackson County Board of Equalization the county must correct the 2023 and 2024 Assessment Rolls "to reflect assessed values that are limited in the manner required by the Commission's August 6, 2024, Order."
KSHB 41 reached out to Frank White Jr. for a statement. We received a reply Tuesday night.
“This is shocking,” said Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. “They are trying to push through the same order the court already determined was unenforceable and do it while their appeal is still pending. That’s not just shocking, it’s dangerous.”
The order also states the county cannot enter an assessed valuation in the 2025 Assessment Roll for any parcel of subclass (1) real property "excluding increases due to new construction or improvements, that exceeds its true value in money, or the assessed valuation for the parcel recorded in the 2024 Assessment Roll (after adjustment as required by the Commission’s August 6, 2024, Order), plus an additional fifteen percent, whichever is less."
The commission's order does not mention or order Jackson County officials to compensate property owners for overpayments in 2023 and 2024.
“If the STC can arbitrarily change values and shift the tax burden on a whim, what stops them from raising your home’s value years after you’ve already paid your taxes?” said White in his statement. “That should scare every taxpayer, especially those who have been undervalued for years and may be forced to pay more years later.”
It does, however, state that unless the county rolls back assessments to their proper amounts, "they will establish an excessive, mistaken, and erroneous baseline for the 2025 residential assessments."
“We made the decision to limit increases because the process had become too uncertain to rely on,” said White in the statement. “Today’s order is another example of the unpredictability that made a stable, responsible path forward so important.”
The statement also affirms, "Jackson County will continue evaluating this new order and will take all steps necessary to defend the legal rights of taxpayers, essential public institutions and the integrity of the reassessment process."
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