Outrageous property tax assessments will hurt Jackson County in multiple ways | Opinion

Twice in four years, Jackson County residents have been slammed with an enormous property tax increase that far exceeds the other counties in the Kansas City metropolitan area. And twice in four years, our pleas to soften that increase have been ignored.

The county had warned that assessments may increase 30% because values had increased so much. While the county reassesses values every two years, real estate prices actually trended down last year. Between July 2021 and July 2023, the average price of a house in the county went from $235,000 to $269,884 — an increase of less than 15%.

Yet 30% seems to have wildly undershot what we got in return. I’m a partner in a real estate investment firm with properties throughout Jackson County, and our assessments have more than doubled that 30% mark.

In one farcical example, the assessment on a two-bedroom house we own in the Waldo area went from $140,000 to $649,900. Another 2-bedroom home in Hyde Park went from $101,000 to $349,870. Having been at the county challenging these assessments, it’s obvious that many have similar stories. One person was assessed $356,270 for an empty lot.

There have been a record 52,000 challenges this year, on more than 300,000 parcels. Many owners’ assessments skyrocketed past any semblance of reality, but they didn’t challenge the county and will be forced to stomach such outrageous taxes.

At my company, we’re fortunate that we can sell properties to raise money to pay these taxes if needed. An elderly homeowner on a fixed income likely cannot. It’s impossible to believe that many people — probably the most vulnerable — won’t lose their homes. And it’s more frustrating that County Executive Frank White’s personal residence assessment went up only 7%.

White has defended the assessments stating, “This state-mandated process is designed to ensure that every homeowner pays a fair share of taxes based on their home’s actual value. In the past, the county didn’t always meet the mark, leading to some homes being undervalued and a tax burden unevenly carried by our community.”

Given the numerous complaints of similar properties nearby with wildly different values, it appears the tax burden is still “unevenly carried.” For example, we have two nearly identical houses on the same block — one assessed at $115,390, the other at $222,520.

From Lee’s Summit to Raytown, rates went up

Our portfolio saw values skyrocket throughout the area. Indeed, The Kansas City Star analyzed the average increases around town and found there’s little variation between wealthier places such Lee’s Summit (average increase: 43.7%) and less affluent ones such as Raytown (45%).

Moreover, how does exorbitantly increasing taxes make them “fair”? You could just as easily shift the burden by lowering rates on those who “unevenly carried” it.

Lastly, White and the county have argued state law requires assessments to reflect market values. This had been ignored in the past, but out of the blue, the county decided that this year (and 2019) it would rectify this problem.

Law is important, but there is a clear distinction between following the law and digging up arcane regulations to rationalize one’s actions. Times change and sometimes the law is not updated to reflect that. Right now, the federal register itself is more than 70,000 pages. Twelve states still have anti-sodomy laws on the books. In Salem, West Virginia, it’s illegal to eat candy within 90 minutes before church services, and Skamania County, Washington, declared Bigfoot an endangered species.

Should we enforce these laws too?

The key point is that bringing assessed values to market is a completely arbitrary goal. It accomplishes nothing tangible and benefits no one in the real world. It would be like a presidential candidate trying to win the most counties instead of electoral votes — it’s arbitrary and counterproductive.

The goal of any tax policy is to raise the funds so that the government has sufficient money to provide the services its people require. This should be done fair and equitably — but again, Jackson County’s 2023 assessments don’t do that.

Aligning assessed values with market values doesn’t accomplish these tasks. The county absolutely does not need 30% to 60% more money this year. Its adopted budget doesn’t appear to have even anticipated such increases. Property tax revenue was expected to go from $34.2 million to $36.3 million, with an anticipated $46 million leftover in the general fund.

If the county executive really wanted to bring assessed values to market without gouging its residents, all that was needed was to simultaneously lower the tax levy while increasing assessments. Our property tax bills aren’t determined by the assessed value alone. The amount you pay is set by taking the assessed value and multiplying that by the levy rate.

The tax levy puts the lie to the idea that Jackson County residents have been underpaying their taxes for decades. Yes, our assessments have been lower than they should have been, but our levy is substantially higher. As Tax-Rates.org notes, “Jackson County has one of the highest median property taxes in the United States, and is ranked 674th of the 3,143 counties in order of median property taxes.”

When Americans have been hit on all sides with the highest levels of inflation since the 1980s, the highest interest rates since the 1990s, high gas prices, and rent and home prices still near all-time highs, such exorbitant tax increases are unconscionable.

These increases will have real consequences. They will not just raise rents and cause people to lose their homes. They will also cause some to buy in another county or leave the Kansas City area altogether. They will cause investors like us to sell instead of renovating. They will likely cause a flight of capital, which will lead to blight, which will increase crime, which will lead to more blight, and so on.

At this point, I would implore Frank White and the county to support legislation being proposed to cap this year’s assessments. Failing that, I would humbly ask them to put pressure on the groups involved in setting the tax levy this year to lower the rate and provide Jackson County residents with much-needed relief.

Andrew Syrios is a Kansas City real estate investor and property manager. He is a partner with Stewardship Investments and a columnist for BiggerPockets.com.