KANSAS CITY, Mo. — So far there have been 1,560 appeals to the Jackson County Assessment Department, so Jackson County officials decided some assessments needed another look.
John Murphy was more than surprised when he got his property assessment.
“My wife’s first reaction was, ‘Sell it to the county, and let’s go,'” Murphy said.
He said the assessed value went up 43 percent, so he went to a county commissioners meeting to listen to the Director of the Assessments Department explain.
“A lot of the values in there seem to be a little skewed, and we identified about 18,000 properties,” said Curtis Coons, the Director of the Assessments Department for Jackson County.
Koons said the department did an internal review and found some inconsistencies, so 18,000 property owners will be getting a letter saying their property value is being reviewed.
“I think it was a good start, but I’ll be more satisfied in a week and two weeks as we start parsing through this and figuring out where we go from here,” said Crystal Williams, a Jackson County Legislator for the 2nd District at large.
Koons said a major problem was a lack of proper comps, or comparable sales, for properties. Usually five comps he says are needed for an assessment.
“There’s just not a lot of sales right now that we’re able to get this good data from,” Koons said.
Murphy doesn’t think his property value should have increased at all, and he says he’ll keep fighting until he gets to a number he’s more comfortable with.
“I am hopeful, but we’ll be watching very closely over the next few weeks,” Murphy said.
If you’re one of the 18,000 property owners who gets a letter, the county recommends you still continue the appeals process. If you want to make an informal appeal, you can do so online or by phone through June 14.
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