JACKSON COUNTY, Mo. (KCTV) – Just as property tax bills hit the mailboxes of Jackson County homeowners, there is another legal challenge to Jackson County’s 2023 property tax assessment.

A Jackson County attorney has filed a joint action in the action, claiming thousands of Jackson County property taxpayers are still waiting to be heard in court.

It is yet another legal avenue with the same arguments that the recent assessment was erroneous and illegal. A previous class action was dismissed, not on the merits, but on procedural grounds. The court ruled that taxpayers must first appeal to the Board of Assessment, then to the State Fiscal Commission (STC) before filing suit. Thousands of taxpayers have done this.

In August, the STC ordered that the county must limit assessment increases in 2023 and 2024 to 15 percent in most cases.

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The county challenged the STC’s order, claiming it was filled with inaccuracies and was “dangerously politicized.”

But Jonathon Soper, the attorney who filed the class action on behalf of hundreds of taxpayers, disputes that.

“I don’t see it as a political issue at all,” Soper said. “I see that property owners — no matter who they support or whose signs they put in their yard during election season — should not have to pay illegal taxes.”

Almost 55,000 appeals were lodged against the 2023 assessment – ​​a record.

KCTV5 Investigates spent months looking into the troubled appraisal and questioned whether physical inspections were conducted. KCTV5 uncovered a data error that the county later admitted was a mistake.

For more about tax assessment issues in Jackson County, click here.

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