Jackson County legislators demand accountability over property tax assessments

By Steve Kraske,

Published September 14, 2023 at 1:53 PM CDT

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Jackson County Legislators Manny Abarca, left, and Sean Smith appear on KCUR's Up To Date on Sept. 14 2023. — Jackson County Legislators Manny Abarca, left, and Sean Smith appear on KCUR's Up To Date on Sept. 14 2023 to discuss the county's troubled property tax assessments.

This week, Jackson County assessment director Gail McCann Beatty fielded questions from the legislature about this year’s problematic property assessments, which saw the value of properties increase by an average of 30%.

Property assessments were a hot topic at this week's Jackson County Legislature's Budget Committee meetings.

Assessment Director Gail McCann Beatty admitted the county made a data error that caused over 500 homes to be assessed at the exact same value.

“There's just uncertainty as to why this is happening and inconsistencies in the accountability of the process,” said Jackson County 1st District Legislator Manny Abarca IV on KCUR's Up To Date.

Jackson County 6th District Legislator Sean Smith said the lawmakers have invited the Missouri state auditor to inspect how the county has performed its assessments.

“The first and most important thing is to take all this anecdotal information we have and really get solid, unbiased third party data,” Smith said.

The county's recent property tax assessment saw the value of properties increase by an average of 30%.