Editor’s note: A previous version of this story included information about the assessed value of a shed on the owner’s property. This story has been updated to reflect that the shed’s value was part of the overall assessment of the property.
A Raytown property owner was among many property owners this month who expressed confusion of this year’s property valuation process in Jackson County.
Judy Roberts and her husband Rick, both in their 80s, received their assessment earlier this year showing their Raytown home – including a shed outbuilding – had a market value of $183,620, an increase of more than 39 percent from the most recent tax cycle of 2021-2022.
While she’s not surprised the value of her home went up – along with thousands of others she and others remain concerned how certain properties can be worth one value and others on the same street an entirely different value.
“All the houses were out here in the cul-de-sac waving our assessments, 'Have you gotten yours? Have you gotten yours?"' she said.
The couple wants tax protections for older people.
“They seem to have targeted the elderly, it seems to me," Roberts said. "There are other counties in Missouri, and in all the other states, where the elderly are given breaks. But here’s the break that Jackson County gave us — we can do it in four payments.”
Roberts joined a large group of taxpayers who filled the Jackson County Legislature's chamber Monday to voice their concerns about their property tax assessments.
Some people asked for appeal extensions while others shared their personal struggles in paying an increased bill from a fixed income.
“From $110,00 on my home to $542,000 on my home,” one property owner told the legislators. “That’s a significant chunk of money."
Roberts told the legislators she wished more could be done.
“I am disappointed that the people who are really in charge are not here to hear us,” she said.
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