After Jackson County vote, Interim Executive Phil LeVota aims to oust assessor
After residents showed up to the polls in overwhelming favor of making the county assessor an elected position, Jackson County is cleaning house.
Interim County Executive Phil LeVota announced Wednesday that the county intends to oust Gail McCann Beatty as Jackson County Assessor.
LeVota said that Beatty had 24 hours to turn in her resignation or she would be “removed from office.”
“I’m in this position to restore faith in government,” LeVota said Wednesday. “The people lost confidence in Gail McCann Beatty.”
Beatty, a former Democratic leader of the Missouri House, was appointed Jackson County Assessor in 2018 by former Jackson County Executive Frank White. LeVota said Wednesday that when voters recalled White as county executive on Sept. 30, he also saw it as a public mandate to remove Beatty from her post.
“I came into this office with the understanding that there needed to be people that left, that I needed to restore confidence,” LeVota said. “I think they lost confidence in the assessor, and this was the time to do it.”
Beatty declined to comment on news of her impending dismissal.
Under the ballot measure that passed Tuesday night, according to unofficial results, Jackson County residents will vote for their first elected assessor in November 2028, joining every other major charter county in Missouri. Until then, the Jackson County executive retains the power to appoint a county assessor.
In the days leading up to Tuesday’s vote on an elected assessor, LeVota declined to speak publicly on how the results might impact Beatty’s job. He said Wednesday that he intentionally waited to announce her dismissal until after the election such as not to discourage voter participation.
“I didn’t want to dissuade or encourage anyone from voting yesterday, and I did not want to make any personnel changes before that,” LeVota said.
Beatty’s dismissal and Tuesday’s landslide vote are both symptomatic of yearslong rage from residents over frustrations with the property tax assessment process in Jackson County. After property values increased dramatically for many households in 2023, some argued that putting the assessor position on the ballot would create more accountability to voters.
LeVota said that other leaders within the assessment department will oversee the department’s daily operations temporarily, and that he plans to appoint a new assessor in the coming weeks.
“We have some chief deputy assessors that are going to be able to step up and do a fantastic job,” LeVota said. “...I’ll take my time to assess and look around and look for quality people.”
