Didn’t get your Jackson County tax bill yet? Here’s why — and what you should do
As the end-of-year deadline for paying property tax bills approaches, thousands of Jackson County residents still have not received their bills — and among those that have been sent out already are some that are now obsolete.
Property tax payments are due Dec. 31 countywide. Interim County Executive Phil LeVota said this week that the county is considering implementing additional penalties for those who are fully delinquent on their tax bills, meaning those who don’t make any kind of payment.
As of Monday, about half of Jackson County tax bills have been mailed, according to LeVota and Jackson County Legislator Sean Smith. Some residents are waiting on both their tax bills and on a notice of a new assessed value for their commercial properties as the county works through a manual adjustment of the taxable value of thousands of parcels.
So what’s up with the delay? And what should residents do if they haven’t gotten a tax bill yet?
Delayed bill production
Jackson County’s property tax bills are set by county staff but mailed out by a third party company. In a series of social media posts this week, Smith said that the communication between the county and the printing company was marked by a series of delays in late November and early December.
“There was a delay in getting out tax bills because of the delay in getting the vendor approved,” Smith wrote last week. “As a result, we were also pushed back in the vendor production schedule from our usual place because of that delay.”
Inclement weather and shipping delays also played a factor in the delay once bill printing started, Smith said. The printing company has allegedly planned to “devote multiple machines” to the remaining bills in order to get them out to the rest of Jackson County before Dec. 31.
According to Smith, about 500,000 tax bills are set to be mailed to residents in total. About 200,000 went out by December 3, about half as of December 8.
Some residents, however, should also look out for a second mailing reflecting a new assessed value for their commercial property. LeVota announced earlier this month that the 2025 value of at least 6,200 properties valued under $5 million will be manually adjusted to reflect no more than a 15% increase from the previous tax cycle.
Residents whose values are adjusted will find out before the Dec. 31 tax payment deadline, but these residents will not receive a new tax bill in time. LeVota said Monday that those residents should make an educated guess and make a partial payment on their taxes based on the new value.
For residents to whom this change applies, county collections staff will reach out in the new year to either directly refund overpayment or request additional payment, LeVota said.
How can I get and pay my tax bill?
Though many residents are used to addressing their property taxes through the mail, these payments can also be made digitally.
Residents can access and pay their tax bill online on the county collections portal, which also contains receipts from past years and a record of assessed property values.
Residents can also access the county’s Taxpayer Assistance Hotline at 816-881-4455, or by email at taxquestions@jacksongov.org. The hotline launched this week and is staffed by both the assessment and collections offices.
LeVota said Monday that he advised residents to visit the county collections department in person if their bills do not arrive by mail on time.
Residents who are in the process of appealing their 2025 property tax valuations are still expected to pay their taxes in order to avoid late fees and penalties. This process is known as paying under protest.
When doing so, residents should write “paid under protest” somewhere on their physical check or on their alternative form of payment, and should enclose a brief written statement to the county collector’s office restating the reasons for their ongoing tax appeal.
Residents over 62 can also apply for the Senior Quad Payment Program to pay their property tax bill in four quarterly installments - rather than all at once at the end of December - without hitting penalties or accruing interest.
