By Ben McCarthy
On April 7, the Jackson County legislature passed an ordinance by a slim majority vote (5-4) that directs County Executive Frank White and County Assessor Gail McCann Beatty to follow an August order by the State Tax Commission (STC) to retroactively lower property tax assessments for residents.
Neither White, nor Beatty, could not be reached for comment, but White did preemptively issue a letter just prior to the 3pm meeting on Monday.
In the letter, White does not explicitly say he will veto the ordinance, however he does state that he still considers the STC’s order to be unlawful, and outlines a case for what appears to be a forthcoming appeal.
He argues that this will establish a dangerous precedent, in which an elected body can unilaterally raise or lower the valuations on private property for prior tax years without a lawful hearing or due process.
Furthermore, he says that the county administration has yet to receive answers to questions submitted to the STC in August. That letter, penned by Beatty, poses a variety of questions and concerns, including asking how will the Blind Pension Fund recoup losses from the order as well as other taxing jurisdictions.
That letter also asks the STC if Jackson County is being singled out with this action because it is the only county with an African-American assessor (herself) in the state.
1st District Legislator, Manny Abaraca, tells the Telegraph, he’s not surprised at anything White or Beatty have done throughout the process.
“They use the racial undertones to muddle the waters and draw attention from the fact that we’re the only county to have seen increased property values of 100% to 400% over the last three tax cycles,” he said.
Abarca went on to identify White’s Chief of Staff, Caleb Clifford, as the author of Monday’s letter promising to fight against the Legislature’s ordinance reaffirming the STC order.
“Clifford has been his ghostwriter and our ghost executive for some time,” he said. “I’m not sure why we’re paying for someone who doesn’t come to the meetings and doesn’t even know the contents of his own letters.”
During Monday’s meeting, Legislative Chair Daron McGee, issued three separate warnings to the crowd gathered inside the legislative chamber for strong reactions to the debate amongst legislators. Amongst the signs at Monday’s meeting, one read: “STOP STEALING HOMEs, FRANK.” The sign was shaped to resemble a major league home plate, with baseballs replacing the letter “O.”
Legislators Megan Marshall, Jeanie Lauer, Charlie Franklin, and Jalen Anderson voted against Ordinance 5958, introduced by 6th District legislator Sean Smith. McGee, Smith, Abarca, Venessa Huskey, and Donna Peyton gave the Ordinance its slim majority, one that is not veto proof, if White does choose to pursue that path.
In August of 2024, the STC ordered Jackson County to rollback all assessment values so that no parcel sees more than a 15% increase from its 2022 value. Jackson County sued, but a judge in the Jackson County Circuit ruled on April 1st that the County must roll back 2023 and 2024 property taxes to reflect no more than a 15 percent increase from the 2022 value.
A key witness at last summer’s trial was Preston Smith, a statistician and former member of the County Board of Equalization. He told the Telegraph that he was shocked by White’s defiance on that matter and his preemptive positioning to appeal Monday’s vote.
“He’s just going to take more time and spend more taxpayer money and make people more angry,” he said.
Preston says he reviewed 38 million property records last summer for two months, and testified at the trial that the County did not perform the inspections they were alleged to have taken place. He says he has been speaking face-to-face with leadership at Kansas City Public Schools, and warning them that this order, despite White’s objections, will happen, and they need to be ready when it does.
“These were ill-gotten gains, so the School District will have to give the money back,” Smith said. “They know, and they have been warned that they will have to budget for this.”
Legislator Sean Smith says that can no longer wait. Assessments go out for 2025 soon. He says he is working towards a plan to credit taxpayers over a multi-year payout, and not do harm to tax jurisdictions.
“I suggested a multi-year credit program that would be fiscally responsible, back in August,” Smith said. “It would probably start with three years, to cover the last couple of (assessments).”