Jackson County legislators hold public hearing over property tax concerns

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County District 1 legislator Manny Abarca and District 6 legislator Sean Smith held a news conference Monday afternoon addressing concerns about property tax assessments and encouraging residents to make their voices heard during the public hearing that is part of the tax levy rate-setting process.

Monday’s news conference addressed growing concerns surrounding what they describe as “illegally inflated county property taxes.”

Last month, the state’s Tax Commission issued an order requiring the county to reassess 2023 assessments to 15% in most cases. Some residents reported increases of up to 200%.

“We’re committed to the idea of doing what we can within our legislative powers to to reduce the harm caused and that the county has harmed to tens of thousands of taxpayers,” Smith said.

Four ordinances were heard during the public hearing Monday, including merchants’ and manufacturers’ inventory replacement levy, the county community mental health fund, the county board of services for the developmentally disabled levy, and Jackson County, Missouri tax levies.

“The levy setting process seems like a mundane way for us to impact this. However, It’s one of the most direct ways that we have the ability to impact the actual taxation rate,” Abarca said. “So as we look towards our taxing jurisdictions, they’re saying,’ Hey, it may be time for you all to look at taking a haircut.’ We at the county need to do the same, right? We need to look at our own budgets and understand how to withdraw some of those resources and ensure that the county executive is prepared to do that.”

“So I think what we will seek to do today is maybe put the levy rate setting process on hold for this week, hear from constituents and then hopefully by next week, be in a position where we can set the levy rate at a fair level before the statutory deadline of Oct. 1,” Smith explained.

During the news conference held before the county legislature’s meeting, both Abarca and Smith discussed their commitment to ensuring fair taxation for all Jackson County residents.

We reached out the county executive’s office for comment about the news conference before the legislature met and held the public hearing as part of the levy rate-setting process.

A spokesperson said:

“Here is a link to the Ordinance, which explains the state constitutional requirements and county laws being followed to set the county’s levy rate. As you will see, the County is already proposing a decrease in the levy. This is the same process the Legislature used to approve the county’s levy last year.”

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