Letter of the Week: Jackson County property taxes

Property taxes

The Jackson County Collections Department’s current practice borders on usurious for property owners with late payments.

My accounting firm remitted an on-time $12,500 check for Jackson County real estate property taxes on Dec. 15. A county representative said agents “got behind” in processing December payments.

The January bank reconciliation showed the check remains outstanding.

Today, I learned late fees of 1 percent for two months and a “collection charge” of 8 percent were assessed. A check that was likely misplaced by the county resulted in a penalty of more than $1,200, with no appeal process.

Two county representatives said current practice does not inform taxpayers of late fees until a phone inquiry occurs.

A third representative suggested the post office didn’t deliver the check as had occurred to “dozens of people this year,” a troubling and unlikely occurrence.

Jackson County gains an immediate windfall when checks “go missing” in the mail, because officials can immediately and quietly increase collections by 10 percent. If checks often are processed slowly as agents confessed, then late penalties should require taxpayer notification.

The Star might ask a few questions about slow processing and late payments in the county.

Harold Bradley

Lee’s Summit

This story was originally published February 12, 2017 at 8:30 PM with the headline "Letter of the Week: Jackson County property taxes."