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State tax commission and some counties clash over assessment data, MOUs and appeal backlog
Summary
Missouri lawmakers and local officials told a legislative interim committee that gaps in sales reporting and county assessment methods created large disparities in assessment ratios, prompted state memoranda of understanding and left tens of thousands of appeals pending before the Missouri State Tax Commission.
JEFFERSON CITY — County officials and the Missouri State Tax Commission told the Special Interim Committee on Property Tax Reform that inconsistent data and differing local methods have left some counties far below the commission’s target assessment ratio and created a backlog of unresolved appeals. The result, they said, is unpredictable tax bills for homeowners and strain on local offices.
The dispute centers on how counties compile values used to compare assessed totals with market sales. Presiding Commissioner George Munk of Cooper County told the committee his county’s sales-to-assessment ratio fell from 63.5% to 59.3% and that the state tax commission has pushed a memorandum of understanding asking counties to move toward the commission’s 90% target. “If you can’t get good data, you cannot do good assessment,” Munk said during testimony about Cooper County’s work to raise low-assessed parcels toward the county average.
Why it matters: Missouri’…
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