Your Jackson County property value may be up by 30%. What to do if yours seems off

Homeowners are receiving property valuations in the coming weeks — and yours may be higher than expected.

The average increase in property values around Jackson County since owners’ last assessment in 2021 is around 30%, with some values rising by even more, according to Jackson County Assessment Office director Gail McCann Beatty.

“I don’t think anyone anticipated that we would see these kinds of increases,” she said at a media event Wednesday. “But with COVID, as more people went remote, we found more people started moving to the Midwest in general, which really pushed property values up.”

The county expects between 20,000 and 30,000 homeowners to appeal their property valuations this year. The department is now offering in-person review meetings with assessors at its new downtown location at 1300 Washington St.

“We do want (homeowners) to know that we are here to help, and we’re trying to give them all of those tools that we can to make this a simple process for them,” Beatty added.

If you have received a valuation that you disagree with, here’s how to get it reviewed and potentially adjusted.

A new way to challenge your property valuation

The assessment department already had several ways to officially dispute your property valuation. But this year, it is adding a new option that it hopes will be more accessible and less intimidating for homeowners.

It’s called an informal review — and despite its name, it can lead homeowners to a binding agreement with assessors on the correct value of a property. Residents can make an appointment online to speak with an assessor at 1300 Washington St.

Appointments open on Tuesday, May 9, and can be conducted in person, virtually or over the phone.

At your appointment, you will have the opportunity to speak with a real estate broker about the average value of similar houses in your neighborhood. You can then take this information, along with any documentation you brought along, into your meeting with an assessment department employee.

By the end of this meeting, the goal is to reach an agreement with the assessor on the most accurate value of your home. The adjusted value will be finalized on a pink form that both you and the assessor will sign.

Gather documentation of your home’s correct value

A document called your “market value notice” is the first place to look when determining whether your valuation is accurate. This document should arrive in the mail in the next few weeks, and it will appear online later in the spring.

The notice will include basic information about your home like the year it was built, its square footage, its number of bedrooms and bathrooms and other details like whether it has a porch, pool or finished basement.

Check to see whether all of these details are correct — if you find a mistake, it could help your case that your home is worth a different amount than the county claims.

Homeowner Edna A. of Raytown told The Star that her property value rose by around 11% since the last county assessment two years ago. But her notice stated that she had a finished basement and a back deck when in reality, both of these are unfinished.

“Based on what is in my home, I think I still could get it lowered,” she said.

Other documentation you can bring to your review meeting include photos of any damage to the interior or exterior of your home, appraisal documents from a private realtor, a recent bill of sale or proof of recent renovations or upgrades.

Be sure to bring hard copies of photos and documents, as assessors may want to scan them into their system. You will get the original copies back.

What can I do if I don’t reach an agreement during the review meeting?

If you can’t reach a consensus on your home’s value during the informal review process, there are several additional steps you can take to appeal the valuation.

The first is to file an official appeal with the county’s Board of Equalization. This appeal process will involve a hearing before three board members when you can present evidence that your assessed value is incorrect.

The deadline to file an appeal is Monday, July 10. You can start the process online here.

After your appeal is scheduled, you can also request an interior inspection of your home if your property value has risen by more than 15%. You can do this on the county’s website here.

“We’ve probably got about 20 to 25 people that we can deploy for the inspections,” Beatty said. “The best suggestion is to apply early, but we will not let you get to a BOE hearing if you’ve requested an inspection without getting your inspection done.”

An interior home inspection can reveal more about your property that may impact the county’s assessment of its value. For example, structural damage only visible from inside the home could help your appeal to lower your valuation.

Inspections are not done on newly built homes or those with recent improvements.

If neither the informal nor the formal county review processes lead to a valuation you agree with, there is one more avenue to try: filing an appeal with the Missouri State Tax Commission. Learn more about that process here.

How do I know what my property tax will be?

You won’t know for sure what your property taxes will be until your local taxing authorities set their tax rates in the fall.

Taxing authorities include your local schools, fire departments, libraries, cities, counties and special funds like the mental health fund, the disabled services fund and the blind pension.

The tax rates set by all of these groups combined will add up to your final property tax rate — but that won’t happen until all property value assessments are finished later this year. That’s because each group can only collect an amount of money determined by its budget.

“Right now, everyone’s values are going way up,” said Christi Johnson, a real estate broker who is contracted by the county to consult with homeowners about their property valuations. “How you level that out is you lower your levy rates a little bit.”

This means that having a significantly higher property value doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the amount you pay in taxes will be higher than it was in 2021. Instead, some taxing authorities may collect a lower percentage than in previous years because property values are so high.

Levies will be set around September, and your property tax bill should arrive afterwards.

Do you have more questions about the property value assessment process in Jackson County? Ask the Service Journalism team at kcq@kcstar.com.