Jackson County, Missouri Property Tax Reassessment Settlement — Credits for 2023 Increases Over 15%

Property Tax · Claims Open

Current Status

Claims are open for former owners and for the Special-Circumstances Fund, and the claim deadline is December 3, 2026 (submitted online or postmarked). Current owners do not file a claim: according to the settlement website, the County will apply their credits automatically. Judge Jacqueline A. Cook granted preliminary approval on September 25, 2026 and signed an amended preliminary approval order on October 6, 2026. The final approval hearing is November 23, 2026 at 9:30 a.m., and no credits or payments start until the settlement is final.

What Changed Recently?

Notices went out to more than 207,000 Jackson County taxpayers by October 19, 2026, after Judge Jacqueline A. Cook of the Circuit Court of Jackson County preliminarily approved the settlement in Wheeler v. Beatty, et al., No. 2416-CV25478. The lawsuit claims that 2023 reassessment increases of more than 15% were unlawful because the County did not perform the physical inspections and send the notices Missouri law requires, so taxes paid on those increases in 2023 and 2024 were paid in error. It relies on the Hancock Amendment to the Missouri Constitution, the refund statute RSMo § 137.073, the Missouri State Tax Commission’s August 6, 2024 order and negligence.

That Tax Commission order found the County failed to give proper notice of the 2023 reassessment and failed to perform required physical inspections for properties whose assessed values rose by more than 15%, and the Circuit Court upheld it on March 31, 2025. The court has not entered a final judgment on the class claims. The County asserts legal and procedural defenses under Missouri law, and the settlement agreement describes the deal as a compromise of disputed claims. If approved, the settlement will be entered as a consent judgment with a permanent injunction against the County.

Who Qualifies?

The class, certified on April 2, 2026, is all owners of residential real property in Jackson County, Missouri who paid real property taxes based on a 2023 assessed valuation that increased by more than 15% over the prior assessment cycle, excluding increases due solely to new construction or improvements. The settlement agreement puts the class at about 207,000 owners.

Commercial, agricultural and industrial property is not included, and the settlement website lists other parcels outside the class, including nursing homes, multi-family buildings of eight or more units, tax-abated or TIF properties, new construction and open land. Owners who appealed their 2023 value or paid under protest remain in the class. County officials, counsel for the parties and the judicial officers assigned to the case are excluded.

How Much Can You Get?

The settlement pays back each class member’s “Overage,” the extra tax paid in 2023 and 2024 because the assessed value rose by more than 15%. Under the court-approved method, the County caps the 2023 assessed value at the 2022 value times 1.15 and holds 2024 at the same level, works out the tax that would have been owed at that capped value using the tax rates actually applied, and subtracts it from the tax actually paid. The two years are added together, and any amount already refunded through a protest or appeal is subtracted. The County computes each Overage from its own records. The settlement agreement includes a hypothetical example, not a real property, in which the total Overage is $863.55, credited as three payments of $287.85.

Current owners who still own the parcel as of October 19, 2026 receive the full Overage as credits on their Jackson County property tax bills in three roughly equal installments on the 2026, 2027 and 2028 bills. Unused credit carries forward until it is used up. The credit belongs to the taxpayer who paid the Overage, not a later buyer, and taxes paid through a mortgage escrow account count as paid by the owner.