Jackson County property assessment appeals deadline gets extended amid steady demand
Jackson County property owners upset by increases to their assessed values of property will have more time to file an appeal.
The county’s Board of Equalization voted Friday to move the deadline for contesting property valuations to July 31. It was previously scheduled to sunset on Monday.
For the time being, the Jackson County Assessor’s Office will also stop taking walk-ins and make all appointments virtual-only.
The move comes as thousands have stepped up to contest the assessed value on their homes and businesses. County officials have faced public pressure from property owners concerned that their assessed values will lead to bigger tax bills.
State law requires county assessors to align assessed home values with market values in odd-numbered years. Jackson County Assessor Office Director Gail McCann Beatty has said increases over recent years have come in part as a result of properties long being undervalued.
Beatty warned in May that assessed values had increased on average about 30%. County officials anticipated up to 30,000 property owners would fight their assessments.
Though county property assessment season is a tradition that comes once every two years, many residents were shocked and angered as letters from the assessor’s office started to hit mailboxes in May. Some reported seeing assessed value increases above 150%.
In Kansas City’s Brookside neighborhood, for example, longtime residents of the Armour Fields told The Star their assessments shot up as high as 93%.
Critics of the assessment process have also questioned the county’s process for assessing property values. All of the roughly 300,000 parcels must be reassessed every two years under state law, and Jackson County relies on a computerized mass-appraisal process that weighs factors such as square footage and lot size with the county’s so-called “market areas.”
The Board of Equalization is scheduled Monday to begin property valuation appeals hearings through Aug. 31, according to a news release from Jackson County.
This story was originally published July 7, 2023 at 7:36 PM.
