Property Tax Appeals for Jackson County are Due July 14th!

By Donald Swartz, President

I was sitting at brunch the other day discussing the Jackson County reassessment with friends familiar with commercial real estate and the concept of Ad-Valorem property taxes. The term “ad valorem” is defined as “according to value”. The State of Missouri is charged with assessing properties every other year at Market Value or “according to value”.

So, what happens when properties have been historically undervalued?

If an owner of commercial real estate has a multi-tenant property and net leases in place such that property taxes are passed through to the tenant, what happens to the tenants when property taxes are increased 5X or 10X from the previous reassessment? Certainly, very few businesses, if any, budget for this type of increase in their operating expenses.

This is taking place in 2025, particularly in Jackson County. We represent several property owners and/or tenants where the property has been undervalued for several years. Tenants sign leases and review historical information related to property taxes and insurance. There is an understanding these expenses could, and will, increase over the length of the lease. However, if the property tax valuations have remained static over the past 6-7 years, can a taxpayer reasonably budget for a five or ten-fold increase in property taxes in a single year?

Paying a Fair Share

Taxpayers reach out to us to review the situation and assist in making sure they are paying their fair share –  no more/no less. Here lies the conundrum… We review the income and the net operating expenses associated with the property; review comparable sales of similar properties over the past 2-3 years and develop an opinion of value. We review leases currently in place to determine if they are at market; look at deferred maintenance items and other deficiencies in the property which may affect the valuation of a property.

Now, assume our analysis supports the current value of the property assigned by the county assessor’s office but the property is not equitably assessed to similarly surrounding properties. Do we appeal the valuation? Do we tell the taxpayer we cannot appeal the valuation increase from $60,000 to $580,000 because it is fair? What about a property that increases from $1,500,000 to $5M+?

It is a slippery slope – counties in Missouri can only increase valuations every odd year (unless there have been improvements or changes made to the property in an even year) so they are constantly lagging behind the market in strong economic times. But increasing valuations 500% or 1000%???

To quote the famous line from the 1984 classic movie, Ghostbusters, “Who Ya Gonna Call?” Well, call us (or email us, or text us 😊) and we’ll see what we can do for you! The deadline is Monday, July 14^th.  You can contact me directly at (913) 766-8761 or .

Swartz + Associates, Inc. (SAI) is a full service property tax firm specializing in the review, analysis and appeals of real and business personal property tax valuations. If you need help with your property taxes, give us a call!