KANSAS CITY, Mo — Property owners in Jackson County have a lot of questions about the latest developments with 2023 property assessments.
KSHB 41 has talked to many of them in the past year fighting significant discrepancies in their assessments.
The Missouri State Tax Commission’s order for Jackson County to roll back last year’s property assessment values is yet another step in the direction they’ve been waiting for, but there is still much uncertainty about how the process will play out.
Though assessments led to residents paying a total of $115 million over what was legally required, Jackson County didn’t have a clear answer about how property owners will get money back.
The county stated most of the tax money has already been spent or allocated to taxing jurisdictions.
George Medina, a realtor for ReeceNichols, saw a 76% increase in his home’s assessed value until he appealed.
He wasn’t completely surprised with the commission’s order.
KSHB 41
“It’s the right thing to do,” Medina said. “It’s just the right thing to do.”
Medina and his daughter, who works for the same real estate agency, helped thousands of homeowners appeal last year.
He saw the assessments mostly impact seniors.
“Some of them went up to over 200%,” Medina said. “It was such a huge discrepancy which is where the problem lays.”
He is among many property owners who want the process to be over but not if an immediate resolve means they’ll be here again.
“My head is spinning because I’ve been watching this since day one,” Medina said. “We need to not stop fighting this because in two more years the same thing might happen again.”
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