KSHB 41 reporter Charlie Keegan covers politics on both sides of the state line. If you have a story idea to share, you can send Charlie an email at charlie.keegan@kshb.com.
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Legislators in Jackson County, Missouri, tried to put the 2023 property assessment saga behind them Monday, but the plan may never see the light of day.
By a vote of 5 to 4, the legislature passed an ordinance to direct county staff to implement an order from the State Tax Commission to retroactively decrease more than 200,000 assessed values from 2023.
Last week, a judge issued a ruling that the State Tax Commission has the authority to issue that order.
“Once you’re in a car crash, your car is never the same. You can’t really fix it all, but you want to get back to as close as fair and legal as possible,” said Legislator Sean Smith, who sponsored ordinance 5958.
County Executive Frank White, Jr., sent a letter to legislators Monday highlighting the complexities of the situation, including that the same judge issued an earlier ruling calling the STC’s order unenforceable.
White hopes to get clarity on the situation, including getting answers to questions the county sent to the STC in 2024 on guidelines for how to implement the order. A meeting with the STC is “expected to begin soon.”
“We will not rush into any decision that could misapply the law or create further inequity in our property tax system,” White wrote.
Smith thinks the new ordinance allows the county to change property assessments, then create a credit to apply to future property tax bills of owners who overpaid based on “inaccurate” values in 2023 and 2024.
White has 10 days to veto the ordinance passed Monday. Legislators assume he will.
It takes six legislators to override a veto. It’s unlikely any legislator would change their vote.
“It’s overdue and it’s ridiculous. You have half of them up there who vote against it,” said Independence homeowner Ginny Henson. “Nobody should be voting against this at this point.”
Outside the courthouses in downtown Kansas City and in Independence, Preston Smith organized rallies to show legislators the people are watching their actions and want relief from the 2023 assessment cycle.
“It’s time for the county legislature to show some leadership,” he said.
Preston Smith pointed out there is no real consequence or punishment for a county that does not follow a STC order.
House Bill 999 would allow the state to withhold sales tax revenue from counties which don’t follow STC orders. The Missouri House passed the bill, it’s now in the Missouri Senate.
“We never really expected a county to defy step-after-step-after-step of state law,” Preston Smith said.
White’s letter said following the STC order could create larger tax bills for properties unaffected by the 2023 process through a process called recoupment levies.
Taxing jurisdictions would need to regain some of the money lost in readjusting the 2023 values and bills.
“If the STC order were to take effect, the estimated immediate impact to taxing jurisdictions in Jackson County exceeds $200 million,” White wrote.
Taxing jurisdictions would recover those dollars through the recoupment levies.
