Jackson County property tax bills go out as lawyers seek restraining order

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Jackson County homeowners have received notice that it’s time to pay their property tax bills.

Bills will soon appear in mailboxes, and some homeowners have already received emails where they can click and pay.

It comes as lawyers have asked a judge for a temporary restraining order regarding bills. They now advise people to hold off on making any payments until a judge weighs in.

“Don’t pay. Don’t pay until after the courts rule. There is no rush. If you pay your taxes, you’re waiving all claims that what the county did here was inappropriate,” said attorney Kenneth McClain.

McClain and his legal team have filed a class action lawsuit that is slowly winding its way through the court. Jackson County lost a motion to have the lawsuit dismissed.

The third-party vendor, Tyler Technologies, also filed legal motions to be dismissed from the lawsuit with different courts. Those motions also failed.

McClain argued the county ignored state laws for when notices were to be mailed out. They also argue state laws were broken regarding physical inspections.

“As far as we can tell, the county did no physical inspections,” said McClain. McClain says his law office, Humphrey, Farrington and McClain, continues to get hundreds of calls each week from confused and outraged homeowners.

ALSO READ: Jackson County Assessment Department admits to data error affecting hundreds of taxpayers

Does the class action lawsuit apply to you?

The lawsuit seeks class-action status for two sets of homeowners.

The first is for homeowners who received notices that were mailed out after state statute on June 15.

The second is on behalf of homeowners who saw property values increase more than 15%. State law and county ordinance outline rules on physical inspections.

Many homeowners question if true physical inspections took place according to state law. The lawsuit drills down on a fine point of state law- that homeowners were to receive notification before inspections took place so they could also request interior inspections.

ALSO READ: Jackson County homeowners record assessment department, turn over recordings to KCTV5

The county has denied lawsuit claims and county leadership has pointed to previous court victories where the courts have sided with the county.

Judges have ruled there are corrective actions in place that homeowners can seek- they can personally appeal their values.

McClain argues this lawsuit is different and courts should force governments to enforce laws.

“Simply because they have the ability to force these tax increases through without proper approvals without following all the safeguards doesn’t mean that it’s right. And therefore, we think that it’s very important that the court follow the law and enter this TRO (temporary restraining order) next week,” said McClain.

Homeowners report problematic assessments

KCTV5′s investigative team has exposed numerous problems experienced by homeowners from data errors to physical inspections in one neighborhood that appear to have taken place at the average rate of 41 seconds per home.

ALSO READ: What one neighborhood reveals about Jackson County assessment inspections

Numerous municipalities including Lee’s Summit and Independence have filed their own lawsuits regarding the troubled assessment process.

For more stories regarding the property tax assessment, click here.

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