EDITOR:
It’s reassessment time again and the price trend for home sales and used vehicles is headed lower. I doubt the next round of assessments will have the same money grab fervor as 2019 and 2021.
The assessor routinely over assesses property without any supporting evidence. This arbitrary practice puts the burden of proof on the homeowner to submit to a home search to disprove the over assessment. The homeowner can refuse the search but then must pay the over assessment as a penalty. Due to the Fourth Amendment, the assessor can’t enter your home unless you give them voluntary permission, but due to the penalty it’s not voluntary.
The way this works is even if you have had your home searched and photographed in the past, something like a finished basement, at least a $10,000 over assessment, is put back on your assessment as a routine default every few years. Very few fight the over assessment because the entire process is designed to intimidate you into ether accepting the over assessment or giving up your Fourth Amendment rights.
Currently only if the reassessment is over 15% is the assessor’s office required to do a physical inspection. It’s really no cap or protection at all for the homeowner because if they don’t have the manpower, they will assess many at 14.9%, as was done in Jackson County.
At the very least, for any increase in assessment the burden of proof needs to be put on the assessor. The assessor must have probable cause before requiring to enter your home as guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.
Since the homeowner is funding the appeal process and many don’t have the expertise or the money to hire representation, when they appeal they should be provided an advocate, one of the many standing against you from the assessors office.
This unconstitutional, bad faith practice will continue until someone takes it to the Missouri State Supreme Court, or enough voters contact Senator Luetkemeyer to change it. Contact your representative and tell him to put the burden of proof on the assessor.
Contact information for State Sen. Luetkemeyer is:
Senator Tony Luetkemeyer, 201 W. Capitol Ave., Rm. 430, Jefferson City, Missouri 65101, phone 573-751-2183
--Dr. Tim Altenburg, DDS
Platte County