State and Local Government
Property Tax Reform
THE PROBLEM
Property taxes are a vital and efficient source of revenue for local government, but various factors, including harmful abatements, inconsistent assessment practices, and consistently poor management in Jackson County have eroded trust in the overall system.
THE SOLUTION
Structure property assessment and taxation so that the taxes are predictable, broadly based, and targeted to the local services that benefit people.
Roll Back Tax Rates in Kansas City
Families and property owners within the Kansas City 33 School District have been hit particularly hard by the continuously mismanaged assessment process in Jackson County and the unique rate-rollback exemption that was imposed for that large school district. The tax increase was especially high in 2025, as voters approved a bond issuance by the district. In 2025, assessments in the district went up by 9%, the tax rate went up by 10%, and the revenue for the district went up by 20%, placing a real burden on property owners. The Kansas City 33 School District should be required to roll back its property tax rates as assessments increase, just like every other taxing entity in Missouri.
Use Community Sale Averages to Reassess Property Values
Right now, property assessments in Missouri are unpredictable and seem random to too many people. Missouri assessors should more uniformly assess residential property by using an average-based system instead of individually assessing every property, as the latter approach leads to increased variation among neighbors and undermines trust.
Change the Personal Property Tax Base and Free the Livestock
Property taxes work best when the item being taxed is immobile. Taxing cars, boats, livestock, grain, and business equipment is not sound policy. While there is no way of knowing how many Missouri cars are improperly registered in Illinois, Kansas, or Arkansas, the number is likely high. Missouri should phase out personal property taxes in a revenue-neutral manner by replacing them with slightly higher real property taxes. Relatedly, Missouri farmers, ranchers, and tax assessors spend significant time counting and calculating the taxes owed on livestock for very little tax revenue in return. The total tax revenues raised for all governments on all livestock throughout Missouri is only approximately $10 million. Those paltry revenues do not justify the effort that goes into the tax in the first place.
POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS
- Remove the Kansas City 33 School District’s exemption from property tax rate rollbacks.
- Change to a reassessment system for homes that is based on community sale averages, not individual property assessments.
- Eliminate personal property taxes, including the tax on livestock, in a revenue-neutral manner.
