Class action lawsuit filed over Jackson County assessments

[Hammock Parties]

https://www.kctv5.com/2023/06/25/cla...y-assessments/

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - A new class action lawsuit challenges the quality of Jackson County’s property assessment. It calls into question if some increases are even legal considering some notices came in the mail after the June 15 deadline, as required by state statutes.

The filing asks a judge to step in and offer injunctive relief. It also calls for a jury trial.

The lawsuit was filed by attorney and developer Ken McClain on behalf of Trevor and Amanda Tilton of Odessa and two businesses.

The lawsuit is critical of the methodology used by Jackson County to reach new values. It argues the newly-built assessment system fails to include sufficient information and there’s a lack of physical inspections.

It points out assessments should consider current market conditions. It argues that didn’t happen when it came to commercial property.

The lawsuit claims Jackson County uniformly increased the value of every non-vacant commercial property with an improvement by 25%. And vacant commercial properties had an across-the-board increase of roughly 50%.

KCTV5 has heard from numerous homeowners who are shocked by the large increases in their assessments. Some question if they’ll be able to keep their homes. They also question if they can realistically sell when property tax assessments increase so much in one fell swoop.

READ MORE: Jackson County property assessment workshops kick off
There has been a 30% average increase in Jackson County. The Assessor’s Office argues homeowners are seeing large increases because Jackson County real estate has not been assessed with Fair Market Valuations (FMV) for a long time and building costs have increased.

The lawsuit is filed against Jackson County Executive Frank White, Assessor Gail McCann Beatty and other members of the Board of Equalization.

KCTV5 reached out to Jackson County’s public information officer for comment but we have not heard back yet.

Politicans exempt from insane take hikes



Legislation drawn to overturn insane tax hikes:



Protest scheduled at Jackson County Courthouse:



KC Town Hall scheduled July 15

[Hammock Parties]

as always some ****ing jackass in wichita knows what he's talking about when it comes to KC.

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

Nobody is overpaying. Again, the price is determined by what someone is willing to pay. The price is also not decided by the county as most assessments are intentionally below market value by 5-10% on purpose. The county assessment of our home is roughly 70k below what the market says I could sell it for which is about 8% below market value. Our assessment went up 14% this year as real estate prices have continued to increase.

"Nobody is overpaying"....I have spent years helping develop software that understands all facets and value drivers of each particular home. As part of this process, I am in direct contact with hundreds of local homeowners for many reasons, the latest of course is dominated by the county valuations. I spent this week with a retired vet whose tax bill went from $3,100 to $7,700 in one year. His home hasn't been updated since purchase in 1993, and has experience much deferred maintenance, such as wood rot, deck rot, a slow plumbing leak that destroyed a 10 x 30' section of ceiling in his lower level, and now has black mold eradication to deal with. And you are saying he isn't overpaying. That's the apex of ignorance and arrogance.

[Woogieman]

"Also, that $290/month figure is not happening to poor people or people on a fixed income"...how much you want to bet?

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

as always some ****ing jackass in wichita knows what he's talking about when it comes to KC.

The bottom line is, US household savings rates are half of what they were historically. As of January 2023, studies show that 57% of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings and could not pay an unexpected expense without using credit. There are many reasons for this, but "not paying enough taxes" is last among them. We pay thousands in real estate taxes, taxes on outbuildings, taxes on vehicles, trailers, earnings taxes, sales taxes, TIF taxes, State taxes, capital gains taxes gift and estate taxes...yet we still have to significantly cut the police force and can't keep the roads from jarring loose your wheel covers. We don't have a tax base problem, we have incompetence and corruption problems, to suggest otherwise is intellectual laziness and enabling of the worst among us- greedy, incompetent, self-aggrandizing bureaucrats.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Woogieman

"Also, that $290/month figure is not happening to poor people or people on a fixed income"...how much you want to bet?

That $290/month figure would represent an increase of over 200k in an assessed value. Show me any examples except the extreme I mentioned where the owners home was originally assessed at 18k and then show me that example happened to someone on a fixed income.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

as always some ****ing jackass in wichita knows what he's talking about when it comes to KC.

Tax assessments on property exist everywhere and the process is very similar state to state and county to county. Tell me what I don’t understand and what I don’t know that I’m talking about. Use your words.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Woogieman

"Nobody is overpaying"....I have spent years helping develop software that understands all facets and value drivers of each particular home. As part of this process, I am in direct contact with hundreds of local homeowners for many reasons, the latest of course is dominated by the county valuations. I spent this week with a retired vet whose tax bill went from $3,100 to $7,700 in one year. His home hasn't been updated since purchase in 1993, and has experience much deferred maintenance, such as wood rot, deck rot, a slow plumbing leak that destroyed a 10 x 30' section of ceiling in his lower level, and now has black mold eradication to deal with. And you are saying he isn't overpaying. That's the apex of ignorance and arrogance.

Read my comment to Stevie again. Nobody is overpaying when they buy a home. They decide what the home is worth and make an offer for that price. In your above example, anyone looking to buy that home would come in and look at it, see the damage, and adjust any offer accordingly. As for tax assessments, the county can’t go into every home and see how piss poor some people take care of their property. That’s exactly what the appeal process is for.

In your example you are stating that this retired vets home went from an assessment of around 200k to over 450k in one year. That seems unlikely, but if so this is exactly what the appeal process is for.

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

That $290/month figure would represent an increase of over 200k in an assessed value. Show me any examples except the extreme I mentioned where the owners home was originally assessed at 18k and then show me that example happened to someone on a fixed income.

Receipts: He just had an appraisal performed for a HELOC that came in the higher $200s. County value at $511k. The highest sale in his subdivision over the past 500 days is $365,000 for a renovated home. His has not been improved since the 90s. You are out of your element.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Woogieman

Receipts: He just had an appraisal performed for a HELOC that came in the higher $200s. County value at $511k. The highest sale in his subdivision over the past 500 days is $365,000 for a renovated home. His has not been improved since the 90s. You are out of your element.

This is exactly what the appeal process is for and why it exists in the first place.

Even in your example, the home had been under assessed by a minimum of 78k.

[stevieray]

....you could always move to Denver and buy a 2bed 2bath condo with 927 sq ft.


$450,000.00

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

Read my comment to Stevie again. Nobody is overpaying when they buy a home. They decide what the home is worth and make an offer for that price. In your above example, anyone looking to buy that home would come in and look at it, see the damage, and adjust any offer accordingly. As for tax assessments, the county can’t go into every home and see how piss poor some people take care of their property. That’s exactly what the appeal process is for.

In your example you are stating that this retired vets home went from an assessment of around 200k to over 450k in one year. That seems unlikely, but if so this is exactly what the appeal process is for.

What a person pays for a home is a snapshot of market activity as of that date. No buyer reasonably expects property taxes to increase increase 70-130%+ in a given year, it historically does not happen.

"The county can't go into every home and see how piss poor some people take care of their property"...then it seems pretty irresponsible to tax them as if they had renovated it, huh? Maybe even deceitful? Your appeal process has not been fruitful for those who have not had an appraisal performed ($450-500), and of course the time frame which the owners wee given to accomplish this was laughably short in duration, which was of course addressed in the class action suit (McClain).

I have another example of a retired couple in Grandview that went from $170ish to $268K. They a\enagegd an appraiser who discovered there 1st level ceilings are 7'1", and the 2nd level was 6'9", which according to HUD is not even allowed to be calculated as "above grade finish". The basement is 6' in height and concrete block that leaks in three walls. The problem is this...Jackson County has refused to create/maintain a database, or purchase software that tracks data granularly...the software exists because I helped design it. Rather than pay us to do it right, they will spend that money on attorneys and dart-throwing buffoons from Texas, who will experience the same chaos next assessment period. Again, you are out over your skis, but are too obtuse to be part of a solution to incompetent governance.

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by LoneWolf

This is exactly what the appeal process is for and why it exists in the first place.

Even in your example, the home had been under assessed by a minimum of 78k.

Not true, since the appraisal did not factor in repairs and eradication of black mold (as was stated), since the owner was not given enough time to have wood rot/deck rot bids prepared, or mold testing to NAMRI standards, all of which could cost $20,000. The county can't know about mold, but to assess a property at $150,000 more than any house in the subdivision has sold for in the past 500 days is elder abuse.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by Woogieman

What a person pays for a home is a snapshot of market activity as of that date. No buyer reasonably expects property taxes to increase increase 70-130%+ in a given year, it historically does not happen.

"The county can't go into every home and see how piss poor some people take care of their property"...then it seems pretty irresponsible to tax them as if they had renovated it, huh? Maybe even deceitful? Your appeal process has not been fruitful for those who have not had an appraisal performed ($450-500), and of course the time frame which the owners wee given to accomplish this was laughably short in duration, which was of course addressed in the class action suit (McClain).

I have another example of a retired couple in Grandview that went from $170ish to $268K. They a\enagegd an appraiser who discovered there 1st level ceilings are 7'1", and the 2nd level was 6'9", which according to HUD is not even allowed to be calculated as "above grade finish". The basement is 6' in height and concrete block that leaks in three walls. The problem is this...Jackson County has refused to create/maintain a database, or purchase software that tracks data granularly...the software exists because I helped design it. Rather than pay us to do it right, they will spend that money on attorneys and dart-throwing buffoons from Texas, who will experience the same chaos next assessment period. Again, you are out over your skis, but are too obtuse to be part of a solution to incompetent governance.

Dude, we are talking about thousands upon thousands of homes that need to be assessed. You are working with a few homeowners at a time. The appeal process exists for the outliers. I’m glad you are helping these people, but all the hand wringing by people like Clay is just bitching because their home was finally properly assessed.

[LoneWolf]

Originally Posted by stevieray

....you could always move to Denver and buy a 2bed 2bath condo with 927 sq ft.


$450,000.00

Stevie, what do you think a 2bd 2 bath condo in Denver should sell for? I have a 1,100 sq. ft. condo in Maui that we rent out 48 weeks a year. If I decided to sell it should we sell it for 400k since that is probably close to what it would cost to build it?

[Titty Meat]

Are people really trying to defend these absurd hikes?