Wisdom Wednesday: Standards, Rollbacks, and True Advocacy

Happy Hump Day, Platte County.

I wanted to expand on my recent Monday Memo and bring more facts—and hopefully clarity—to how real property taxes and reassessments directly affect you, the property owner and taxpayer.

To start, it is important to know that Missouri State Tax Commission (STC) guidance uses a global standard established by the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO). This standard requires a county's median assessed values to fall within a strict balance of 90% to 110% of true market value based strictly on local sales data. According to RSMo 138.390, the STC will order a county to raise or deduct valuations if they fall outside those lines—which is exactly why the STC is ordering Jackson County to deduct from valuations due to their 2023 over-assessments.

How do you feel about a Missouri State agency adopting global standards to regulate taxation on our citizens?

Be aware that there are several international guidance associations that many governmental and professional industries adopt to level the playing field and bring high standards to technical fields. I personally used IEEE standards throughout my 30-year engineering career in broadcast work. Similarly, ISO 9001 is a highly recognized global standard for manufacturing. Adopting a global standard isn’t inherently a bad thing, but it absolutely needs to be openly debated and examined to see if it is truly the best solution for Missouri taxpayers.

Will Political Subdivisions Lower Their Levies?

The short answer is: Yes, they should!

When reassessments rise substantially, political subdivisions (School Districts, the County, Fire Protection, Road Districts, etc.) are allowed an increase in revenues to account for inflation, plus the revenues received from taxing new construction and improvements. After that, they are required by the Missouri Constitution to adjust tax rates downward. This is called a tax rate rollback.

While the state provides allowed cost-of-living increases over the previous year, a maximum of 5% is allowed. Beyond this, the tax rates must be reduced to offset the valuation increase, preventing local taxing entities from collecting windfall tax revenues generated simply by inflated assessments.

I am a firm believer that this rule has not only been poorly followed and enforced, but has been actively hindered from enforcement over the years by the state legislature. I promise to do all I can to make sure tax levies are rolled back to protect you, the taxpayers, from unfair increases in taxes—and I will willingly stand my ground even if it means facing legal pushback from the political subdivisions for doing so!

Why I Am the Best Qualified for This Office

Educating myself on the intricacies of Missouri law as it applies to the County Clerk’s office will be a foundational duty of my job when leading that office. I am entirely willing to slog through boring RSMo statutes, ask questions of reliable resources, and get accurate, definitive answers that I can use to benefit my constituents—the taxpayers of Platte County.

In my 30 years in technology and business, I had to continually learn new standards as they were published, adapt to new procedures, and master new regulations. If you don’t, you fall behind, lose clients, and eventually become an irrelevant relic.

I know how to read the schematics of complex systems. I believe I can find exactly where operational improvements in Platte County government can be implemented to provide a more efficient, compliant, and responsive County Clerk’s office.

Your Direct Line to State Accountability If you ever want to cut through local courthouse rumors and get real clarity on the state equalization process, you don't have to guess. Missouri has a dedicated resource established precisely to protect your rights:

• Office of the State Ombudsman: Assisting taxpayers to assure fairness, accountability, and transparency of the property tax process.
• Contact: Dan Hutton, Ombudsman
• Email: AskSTC@stc.mo.gov | Phone: 573-526-8259

Let's keep the conversation focused on facts and real solutions.

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