KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The city of Lee's Summit is suing Jackson County, Missouri, Executive Frank White Jr. and County Assessor Gail McCann Beatty, citing "failures" in Jackson County's property value-assessment process.
Lee's Summit claims in its lawsuit that Jackson County hiked property assessments "beyond the allowable percentage," failed to inform property owners of the rise in property valuations, did not perform mandatory property inspections and did not "correctly and timely" factor in new construction.
More than 54,000 Jackson County property owners filed a property tax appeal this year, while thousands of other individuals reported "difficulty with the appeal process," including excessive hold times when calling the Assessment Department to website errors, according to a resolution from the Jackson County Legislature.
"After years of Jackson County’s repeated failures to make correct real property tax assessments, the City of Lee’s Summit filed a lawsuit to get a court’s help to force the County and its officials to make accurate assessments as required by Missouri law," the city of Lee's Summit said in a written statement.
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Lee's Summit requested records on taxes billed, collected and distributed from Jackson County as well as documents on tax rolls and Jackson County's assessment process in its lawsuit.
The city claimed that the county failed to provide "adequate" records as required by the tax billing and collection agreement between the two entities.
Lee's Summit Mayor Bill Baird says that Jackson County officials have offered excuses for property assessment shortcomings "for too long."
“People are over- or underpaying," Baird said in a statement. "The County still won’t get it right and Lee’s Summit just can’t wait any longer."
KSHB 41 News has contacted Jackson County for a statement regarding the lawsuit. This story will be updated if a response is received.
