Lee’s Summit sues Jackson County over alleged failures in property tax assessments
The City of Lee’s Summit has filed a lawsuit against Jackson County for allegedly failing to correctly make real property tax assessments, depriving the city of tax revenues.
The lawsuit, filed Friday in Jackson County Circuit Court, accuses the county of increasing tax assessments “beyond the allowable percentage” and failing to notify owners of property valuation increases, among other things.
“For too long the county and its officials have offered one excuse after another for their failure to correctly assess real property,” Lee’s Summit Mayor Bill Baird said Monday in a statement. “People are over or underpaying. The county still won’t get it right and Lee’s Summit just can’t wait any longer.”
Lee’s Summit is asking a judge to force the county to make accurate assessments in compliance with state law. The city is also seeking damages, as well as a way to ensure the county’s compliance in the future.
The lawsuit names as defendants the county as well as Jackson County Executive Frank White Jr. and Gail McCann Beatty, Jackson County’s director of assessments. Jackson County did not immediately comment on the lawsuit.
Lee’s Summit also alleges it requested records about taxes billed and collected by Jackson County, but that county officials have not provided them.
“The County’s failure to provide those records has left the City unable to confirm the propriety and timeliness of assessments and tax payments in the City,” Lee’s Summit’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
