Does new Missouri order mean Jackson County homeowners get tax money back? Not so fast

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Days after the state tax commission ordered Jackson County to reduce property tax valuations on three-fourths of the real estate parcels on the county tax rolls, no one is certain what will happen next.

Not the tax commission, not the county government and, least of all, taxpayers.

About the only sure thing is that the matter will end up in court. For how long? No one knows that, either.

“We are exploring all options,” said Caleb Clifford, chief of staff to County Executive Frank White Jr., who claims the tax commission’s rollback order was politically motivated.

What happens next?

The county could sue the tax commission in state court, rather than comply with the order, which was announced the same day that the commission asked a judge to drop a lawsuit seeking a similar remedy.

Or Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who represented the commission in that lawsuit, could file another lawsuit seeking compliance.

But first, the matter might also end up before the state’s Administrative Hearing Commission, an unelected panel that settles disputes involving state agencies, where some cases drag on for years.

And any decision that hearing commission makes could then be appealed — to the courts once again.

The county legislature could also vote to block White’s administration from challenging the tax commission order. Legislator Sean Smith is sponsoring a resolution that would prevent the county counselor from appealing the order without the legislature’s approval, blocking White from initiating a court challenge on his own.

At a press conference Thursday afternoon announcing the proposed resolution, Smith was flanked by four legislators who were in support of the measure.

But were it approved, it would take six votes to override, if White vetoed it.

“I hope for a unanimous vote when we vote on that on Monday, and I hope that we won’t see resistance from the administration,” Smith said. “And relative to (the four legislators) who aren’t here, I don’t have any reason to believe that they don’t support what we’re trying to do, which is to correct a problem that’s been created.”

The tax commission has declined comment for now on what next steps it will take or envision. But on Thursday, the commission issued a news release explaining for the first time its reasoning for issuing the order when it did:

“The commission reached its decision to issue an Order after examining a substantial amount of information which it has acquired over the last few months, including but not limited to County assessment records and sworn statements of County officials which it obtained through discovery in its lawsuit against Jackson County.“

The tax commission gave Jackson County 30 days to provide a list of all properties whose values during the 2023 reassessment process went up by more than 15%, exclusive of improvements, but were not subject to a “physical inspection” by a representative of the county assessment department.

Drive-by inspections won’t do, the tax commission said, citing state law. The inspector must get out of the car and review “all exterior portions of the land and any buildings and improvements.” Jackson County didn’t do that for all those properties, the tax commission said.

The county claims that its inspection methods complied with state law. In a news release issued on Thursday, the county said local taxing districts would lose $117 million, if assessments were rolled back.

But one state official who is an expert on tax assessment cases who spoke on background said the law would not require school systems, city governments and other recipients of tax dollars to return money they have already received from the county collector based on the increases.

But neither side has issued a definitive statement on that on the record.

Should the order stand, those taxing districts could reset their levies based on the new, lower property tax values.

Whatever happens, Clifford said, it is unlikely the decision will have any immediate impact on taxpayers.

No tax refunds are likely, he said.

The Star’s Jonathan Shorman and Kacen Bayless contributed.