KC coffee shop sees property tax assessment soar more than 600%. ‘This is a shakedown!’
This year Ian Davis, the owner of Blip Coffee Roasters — a coffee shop in the industrial north end of the West Bottoms — a place popular with bikers, cyclists, scooter riders, “anything on wheels,” Davis said — has been watching all of his costs rise.
Gas. Electricity. Insurance. The price of coffee in the last year has essentially doubled.
But it was the numbers he received recently in a letter from Jackson County that took him by the greatest surprise: a 626% rise in his property assessment which, Davis said, when used to calculate a proportionate rise in his property tax, will cost him $20,000 a year, inching the shop closer to going out of business.
“I can’t afford a 600-whatever increase,” an irritated Davis said Wednesday, standing in his shop.
Blip Coffee Roasters
County officials have long argued that they are simply raising the values on properties that, in some cases, have been under-assessed for many years. Davis said he understands that. He concedes that his property is among them.
In 2020, he bought the industrial building at 1301 Woodswether Road for $380,000, and has put hundreds of thousands of dollars of improvements into it. When he bought it, the county assessed the property at only $79,000, far below its market value. In 2023, that valuation rose 35% to $106,600. His annual property tax bill last year was about $3,200.
Davis absolutely expected his property tax valuation to rise again. He just didn’t expect it to skyrocket from $106,600 to $773,900.
“But, right now, it feels like plain and simple extortion.”
Jackson County property taxes
In his anger and frustration, he wonders if possibly shuttering small, local businesses like his — especially in popular areas like the West Bottoms — is precisely what the county wants in the long-term, in order to see them turned over to wealthier companies or developers.
The northern part of the West Bottoms has begun construction on the first phase of a planned $500 million redevelopment that promises to transform the area.
“The county is interested in tax breaks for the stadiums,” Davis said. “They’re interested in tax breaks to lure developers from the coasts. They’re interested in outside ownership for the (Country Club) Plaza.
“They’re saying loud and clear, we are not interested in local ownership. We are not interested in local business. We want a Jack in the Box. We want a Five Guys.”
The Star reached out Wednesday to a Jackson County spokeswoman, who asked for information on the property to look into the situation.
The county later sent documentation suggesting that Blip’s new valuation was not unfair and, in fact, may be conservative. Documents showed that in 2022 Blip received a certified bank appraisal of the property that valued it at $920,000, close to $150,000 higher than the county’s 2025 valuation of $773,900 three years later.
The spokeswoman, Marshanna Smith, emailed a general statement.
“Jackson County is required by Missouri law to assess every property at its fair market value,” she wrote. “Our responsibility is to ensure that all properties, residential and commercial, are valued as accurately and fairly as possible based on current market conditions.
“With more than 300,000 parcels in the county, there are times when assessed values have not kept pace with actual market trends. When that happens, state law does not allow for a phased or gradual adjustment. Instead, we are obligated to bring the property to its full market value in a single reassessment cycle.”
Smith said owners can submit an appeal if they feel a new valuation is inaccurate, and corrections do occur.
“We understand the financial pressures that some small business owners are facing,” she wrote. “Our goal is to be accurate and fair—not punitive. We encourage anyone who has questions or concerns about their property’s new value to reach out and engage in the process now, while there’s still time to make adjustments if warranted.”
Property tax battles
In 2023, Jackson County faced stiff criticism for how it reassessed residential properties, with homeowners getting hit with increases averaging 30%, although some as much as doubled.
Anger spilled out in public forums including on a Facebook page started in June 2023, ”Fight Jackson County Missouri Assessment,” for those outraged by their valuations. Thousands of homeowners appealed and fought their revaluations with county assessors.
In August 2024, the Missouri State Tax Commission ruled that Jackson County must roll back its assessments values on 75% of the country’s more than 300,000 parcels, due to errors by the county assessor’s department. The commission ruled that property tax increases must be capped at 15%.
A month later, Jackson County sued to undo the Tax Commission’s order.
But in April, Jackson County lost that suit. Following the ruling, Jackson County Executive Frank White, Jr. and County Assessor Gail McCann Beatty announced that residential property assessment increases in 2025 would be limited to no more than 15%.
Davis believes that Jackson County has learned no lessons.
“Jackson County is now targeting commercial property owners trying to pull the same stunt,” he said. “It’s just as wrong now as it was then.”
This story was originally published June 12, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
