KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – Jackson County is set to begin the search for a new Assessor after the old one was removed.
County Executive Phil LeVota tells KCTV5 that Gail McCann Beatty was removed from the office of the Jackson County Assessor after being given the opportunity to resign on Wednesday.
As of Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., McCann Beatty was removed from the Jackson County Assessment Department website.
“Gail McCann Beatty will no longer be the Assessor of Jackson County. I’ll speak with Miss McCann Beatty about that. And she has the opportunity to give me her resignation, or she will be removed from office,” said Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota.
LeVota went on to say that this is about restoring trust in Jackson County.
“I’m in this position to restore faith in government. The people lost confidence in Gail McCann Beatty. I’m not here to comment on her personally. I don’t even want to choose the job she did. I think she’s a good person. The recall election on September 30th of 85% was a recall of Frank White and I think a recall of Gail McCann Beatty,” said LeVota.
This comes just a day after voters overwhelmingly passed a measure to make the assessor position an elected role rather than appointed.
“What passed yesterday has changed the charter to make the county assessor an elected position in 2028. It doesn’t change any of the power of the county executive until then. In January 2029, whoever’s in my position will not have the same authority that I have today to correct errors and supervise the assessor,” said LeVota. “They’re very qualified people in the assessment department. We have some chief deputy assessors that are going to be able to step up and do a fantastic job. I’ll work on the process of selecting another assessor.”
McCann Beatty has faced criticism over the years after the 2019 and 2023 troubled tax assessments. There have been lawsuits and a state audit.
KCTV5 Investigates was told McCann Beatty did not have a comment for this story.
Tax credits
LeVota stated the County plans to follow the 2024 State Tax Commission order to fix the 2023 property assessments.
“While it would be impossible to return funds already spent, as the county doesn’t hold these funds, we don’t hold the tax dollars in reserve. We are ensuring accountability and fairness moving forward. So, in coordination with the State Tax Commission’s guidance, tax credits will be issued to impacted personal property owners over the next three years,” said LeVota.
He said they plan for letters to go out in the spring to owners with assessments of more than 15% in 2023. LeVota said it is still a work in progress, but it is tangible relief. He does not anticipate this will change the 2025 tax bills.
“They’re going to get a tax bill that was correct, that was supposed to be the value that they got before, and they will see what they overpaid, and they’ll get a tax credit in the next year,” said LeVota.
Class action lawsuit
For the last few weeks, there has been an ongoing mediation in the class action lawsuit that pushed the county to fix the 2023 assessments.
Mediation ordered in legal battle over Jackson County 2023 property assessments
“I anticipate that litigation will go away. The specifics of the settlement and how we do that, or if it’s dismissed or what the party’s doing that, are going to be something I’ll have the lawyers figure out. But that litigation was filed on behalf of taxpayers asking them to do what I just did,” said LeVota.
Another issue in that case is the company, Tyler Technologies. This is the third-party contractor who assisted in the 2023 property assessments.
As of now, LeVota said they will continue to work with the contractor as they have a contract.
Next steps
LeVota said for those with unique property assessments and possible issues with commercial assessments, there will be a way for owners to get help.
“We’re going to find out, did you make an appeal? Did you like that appeal? Are you done with that appeal? Are you still appealing? We still have some things in front of the BOE. Those appeals are pending. So when the Board of Equalization looks at this, and they decide that they’re following this tax commission, that might take care of some appeals, and they might be able to enter some stipulations,” said LeVota.
He said they plan to have more contact information out next week.
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