Missouri's State Tax Commission is again ordering Jackson County to revise its property tax assessments from recent years, and defiance from the county's top official has spawned a recall effort — and potentially a state investigation.
In a Tuesday directive, the commission ordered the county to base its 2025 assessments on corrected 2023 and 2024 assessments. It also reaffirmed the commission's order to roll back the earlier assessments, which the county has so far refused to follow.
County Executive Frank White Jr. announced last week that the county will preemptively cap all assessment increases this year at 15%. That's because the county doesn't have the resources to perform the inspections required to increase values above that threshold, he said.
The tax commission's order supports that limit, but it also says that unless Jackson County corrects the previous assessments, it will use "an excessive, mistaken, and erroneous baseline" for its 2025 assessments, even with the 15% limit.
In a news release Tuesday, White signaled that the county will not follow the new order. But a majority of the county's legislators support the tax commission's directions, and the stalemate has caused some to support an effort to recall White and investigate his decisions.
Greg Allsberry, chief counsel for the tax commission, said the commission sent the order to give Jackson County time to fix its baseline and make sure the county doesn't renege on its promise to cap assessments to 15% increases.
"We always had the idea that we may need to issue an order directed to 2025 since Jackson County has steadfastly refused to get 2023 and 2024 right," Allsberry said. "One of the reasons we sent our order is to impose a requirement in the law that they follow through and actually do what they said they're going to do here."
Taxpayers faced skyrocketing increases in property values in the 2023 assessment process. Property tax bills, which had been undervalued for years, increased by an average of 30% and, in some cases, more than 100%. In an earlier ruling, the tax commission ordered the county to roll back those assessments, but the county challenged that.
White called the new order "shocking" and said it contradicts a court case that considered the 2023 rollback order unenforceable. In a statement, he said the county will evaluate the order and hinted that the county may consider more legal action.
"If the (tax commission) can arbitrarily change values and shift the tax burden on a whim, what stops them from raising your home's value years after you've already paid your taxes?" White said. "That should scare every taxpayer, especially those who have been undervalued for years and may be forced to pay more years later."
Allsberry said the commission anticipates that it may be back in court to enforce the order. He said the issues with Jackson County's assessments are "probably a first" for the state — typically, the tax commission is focused on counties that don't keep up with market values.
The core issue with Jackson County's yearslong tax assessment battle is not that the assessments didn't align with market value. Instead, the state alleges the county didn't follow the rules that require municipalities to conduct a physical inspection of the property before raising assessments higher than 15%.
"They were excessive because Jackson County didn't follow certain steps that every assessor is required to follow," Allsberry said. "If you can't comply with those requirements or choose not to, either way, you have to limit your assessment increase to 15% — even if that means that for that year, you're assessing below market value."
White said following the commission's earlier rollback order would cause "catastrophic financial harm" to school districts and other taxing jurisdictions that would lose millions of dollars if the county issued refunds or tax credits.
Allsberry said even if the county doesn't take action to pay back taxpayers or issue tax credits to follow the rollback order, it still needs to use an adjusted baseline for this year's assessment process.
White's insistence that the county won't follow the tax commission's orders has solidified a feud within the legislature. Five legislators oppose White's actions and say he is responsible for the assessment issues. Without any hope for compromise, some are calling for his removal from office.
Legislators and a growing number of voters want White out of office
Five of the nine county legislators — Sean Smith, Manny Abarca, DaRon McGee, Donna Peyton and Venessa Huskey — have consistently opposed White's actions with the assessments.
Though they have the majority in the legislature, it isn't enough to overcome a veto from White or convince the other four legislators — Megan Marshall, Charlie Franklin, Jalen Anderson and Jeanie Lauer — to join their side.
Those five legislators voted April 7 to direct the county to follow the tax commission's order and roll back the 2023 property assessments. But White vetoed the ordinance, and the legislators didn't have the votes earlier this week to override that veto.
McGee, who represents parts of Kansas City, Raytown and Grandview, said a majority of the legislature doesn't support the executive's actions. The two factions have been essentially working separately for more than a year.
"The (tax commission) order shows that the state is trying to fight for taxpayers in Jackson County along with the majority of the legislators," McGee said. "It's unfortunate that the county executive continues to defy the state tax commission and the will of the residents in this county by burdening taxpayers with misleading assessments and violating the law."
A longtime effort to recall White is growing. Smith joined that movement last year, and he said they now have enough petitions to put the recall on the ballot.
Smith says that because White refuses to follow the tax commission's ruling and the four other legislators continue to oppose the efforts of the majority, the legislature's authority is limited.
"I think that not just this assessment issue, but many issues that the county executive has responsibility for, are not going well," Smith said. "Unfortunately, removal from office of our county executive seems to be the only solution to really get justice for our taxpayers."
Smith told KCUR he plans to submit the signatures to recall White today. Two other legislators, Abarca and Huskey, support the movement to recall White and have signed their names to the petition alongside Smith.
To get the recall on the ballot, 25% of registered voters in Jackson County must sign the petition within six months of the first signature. That election could cost taxpayers about $1 million.
In an opinion column published by the Kansas City Star, White said the recall effort isn't about tax assessments, and instead started with the failed effort to extend the 3/8th-cent sales tax for the Royals to build a new stadium and the Chiefs to remodel their stadium.
"I've long said Missouri's property assessment system needs reform, and I understand the frustration," White wrote. "But this recall won't fix assessments. It's a distraction, orchestrated by wealthy special interests who want to undo your vote and force a stadium tax back on the table."
Abarca, Smith and Huskey also wrote Monday to Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, asking him to review some of White's decisions.
They accuse White of not working full-time as county executive because of his coaching position for the Kansas City Monarchs, creating irregularities with the county budget and disbursing funds while there's a legal dispute over the budget. They also criticize his veto of the ordinance to comply with the tax commission's first order.
"These actions undermine not only our local government's financial foundation, but also the trust of Jackson County residents," Abarca said. "We must be accountable to taxpayers and, above all else, we must be fiscally responsible with the funds constituents entrust us with, and we cannot afford another failed attempt at an appeal."
McGee, who is not involved in the effort to recall White, said the tax commission's latest order is another example that White violated the law. He doesn't think much will change because White continues to fight the tax commission in court.
"I hope that this will end this saga will end soon," McGee said. "We have now had four cycles of concerning tax assessments and evaluations in this county under Frank White's leadership, and I think that is the sad part of all of this. There's no one to blame but one person."
White couldn't be reached for comment today.
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