Only four state-certified appraisers were working on Jackson County’s (Missouri) troubled assessments this year, according to a report from KMBC News.
County emails showed that the director of assessment, Gail McCann Beatty, had 30 jobs on staff but was only able to fill 17 spots, with four being certified residential appraisers, the TV station reported.
“Nothing in the commercial data makes any sense at all, nothing does,” Jackson County Assessment Director Curtis Koons, who now works to appeal values for residents and companies, told the TV station.
Koons was the county’s director of assessment for seven years and had the same role when he was elected in Cass County for 11 years.
Koons said the lack of certified appraisers highlights the problems of short-staffing. Missouri law allows the assessor to let anyone to do appraisals, not just those certified. Legally, Koons stated that one doesn’t have to be certified, but he or she should be.
Koons predicts people may need to pay their tax bills under protest because appeals may not be finished until the middle of next year.