KSHB 41 reporter Tod Palmer covers sports business and eastern Jackson County, including Independence. Share your story idea with Tod.
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Jackson County plans to provide property tax credits over the next three years to property owners impacted by the 2023 property tax assessment process, but school districts fear the plan will leave them victimized instead.
"What's happening now isn't necessarily a matter of who deserves the money,” said Carter Taylor, the legislative chair for the American Federation of Teachers Local 691/Kansas City Federation of Teachers. “It's, 'Are we fixing one illegal action with another illegal action?'"
The county projects school districts will lose $196 million in tax revenue over the next three years under the program, which County Executive Phil LeVota announced Saturday and the legislature passed Monday. Other taxing jurisdictions — fire districts, the city and the county — stand to lose another $75 million in tax revenue, according to county projections.
James Roberts, a property owner in east Kansas City, understands the frustration over the botched assessments because he lived it.
"Oh, yeah, mine went sky high,” Roberts said. “I think everybody in my neighborhood, I live in the east side of Kansas City, and I think all my neighborhoods have been affected by it.”
Jackson County saw a record number of appeals after trying to pass along massive spikes in property values in 2023. It also sparked outrage and a number of lawsuits.
But count Roberts among those skeptical of the tax credit program.
"It sounds like a good plan, but I'm sure something comes with it," Roberts said. "That happens all the time, traditionally in Kansas City, because you know we live in a system where Peter is robbing Paul and Paul is robbing Peter.”
According to local school districts, that something is multimillion-dollar budget shortfalls.
Taylor, who teaches elementary school, said she is sympathetic to the issues the assessment created.
“All of us are constantly under so much economic strain and pressure, I absolutely understand why people would be beyond upset,” she said.
But Taylor isn’t convinced it is fair to punish schools for the county’s failures, especially when the decision was made by an interim county executive who won’t be around to manage the fallout.
"Our public schools are on the brink of disaster at all times," Taylor said. "... Solving one very, very big mistake with another mistake that doesn't take into account legality or fairness, that doesn't seem to solve anybody's problems at all.”
Taylor said the plan compounds funding shortfalls districts already face after federal and state cuts.
"We're missing resources on every single level, even at the city level,” she said. “Property tax abatements keep being allowed through these deals with private businesses that have taken hundreds of millions of dollars out of the school budgets. The Jackson County tax credit plan is just one more step towards collapse.”
Taylor said public schools are already stretched thin.
"I make this offer to every politician I've ever met,” Talyor said. “I would love for them to come visit my classroom and see how much we are doing with so little at all times, and I would love them to look at the students in my room and tell me that they deserve even less.”
The Independence and Fort Osage districts have already sued Jackson County over the plan, which may force districts to cut staff and programs or close buildings.
“We have dozens of schools in our area right now that are permanently closed because we couldn't handle the maintenance or the upkeep or there wasn't enough funding to be able to take care of that specific community school,” Taylor said. “So, those kids are shuffled somewhere else — class sizes get bigger, teachers get overwhelmed, they leave. It's not fair to anybody when budgets fall short of where they should be.”
Roberts said he hopes the situation resolves itself — and that he would even be willing to sacrifice part of his own tax relief to protect schools.
"Hopefully, it'll all work out, but I would be willing to give up a portion of my taxes to save the schools, definitely,” Roberts said.
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.
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