Jackson County Property Tax Class Action Settlement

The formal class definition covers owners of Jackson County residential real estate who paid taxes based on a 2023 assessed-value increase of more than 15% from the prior assessment cycle. Increases caused only by new construction or improvements are excluded.

The notice’s opening sentence also refers to a 2024 assessed valuation increase, which conflicts with the formal definition. The notice does not explain that difference, so it does not provide a clear answer about eligibility based only on a 2024 increase.

The notice calls the difference your “Overage.” It is the basis for the tax credit or cash relief described in the notice.

• The amount compares the 2023 and 2024 taxes actually paid with what would have been owed using the same tax rates if the valuation increase had been limited to 15%.
• The calculation excludes new construction and improvements.
• The notice says the County’s assessment and tax records will be used under a court-approved method. It says estimated amounts can be looked up or requested by phone.

If you still own the property that was over-assessed, the notice says you will automatically receive a property-tax credit for your Overage.

• The credit is split into three equal installments for the 2026, 2027, and 2028 tax years.
• If an installment is more than the tax bill, the remaining credit carries forward until used.
• A current owner does not need to submit a claim for this credit.

The relief depends on whether a former owner currently owns another residential property in Jackson County.

• If you now own another Jackson County residential property, you may have the credit applied to that property’s tax bills over the same three-year schedule. Your claim form must show that you owned both the old and current properties.
• If you do not currently own Jackson County residential property, you may seek a cash payment over the same three annual periods.
• Former owners must submit a claim form by December 3, 2026. The notice says a form is enclosed and available through the settlement website.

The Special Circumstances Fund is separate from the automatic tax credit. It is available for qualifying documented fees, not for every cost connected with the property tax assessment.

• Only documented out-of-pocket appraisal fees and legal fees incurred to challenge or respond to the reassessment may be requested.
• Claims need documentation and must be submitted by December 3, 2026.
• An independent administrator, rather than the County, decides these claims.
• There is no individual cap, but approved payments will be reduced proportionately if approved claims total more than $6 million.

People who appealed their assessment or paid under protest under Missouri law may be entitled to a full cash refund of an overcharge not already received through that existing process. The notice does not explain how to request or complete that separate refund process.

• The notice says this refund is separate from the settlement and is handled through the County’s existing protest-refund process.
• The settlement does not reduce, delay, or make that refund conditional.
• The same overcharge cannot be recovered twice.

Excluding yourself means leaving the settlement. The notice says you keep the right to bring your own claim at your own expense, rather than receiving settlement benefits.

• Mail a letter to the Settlement Administrator postmarked by November 18, 2026.
• Include the case name and number, a statement that you want to be excluded, your full name and address, the affected property address, and your signature.
• An excluded person receives no settlement benefits and does not release claims, but classwide declaratory and injunctive-relief claims cannot be excluded.

Objecting lets you remain in the class while telling the court what you disagree with about the proposed settlement.

• Mail a written objection to the Settlement Administrator, postmarked by November 18, 2026.
• Include your name and address, your parcel number or other proof that you are a Class Member, your reasons, and whether you plan to attend the hearing.
• The notice says that a Social Security number is not required.

The court will consider the proposed settlement at the Fairness Hearing.

• The hearing is set for November 23, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.
• It will be in Division 60 of the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri, at Kansas City.
• Attendance is optional.

Unless you exclude yourself, you release the covered claims, subject to the notice’s condition that the corresponding relief must actually be paid or performed first.

• The release concerns claims in this case arising from the County’s 2023 and 2024 residential reassessment.
• For each category of relief, the release begins only after the County has actually provided that relief.
• The notice preserves a separate right to a protest-impound or appeal refund.

• No. The notice describes protest or appeal refunds as a separate existing process and bars duplicate recovery of the same overcharge.
• The settlement notice does not provide a new procedure for obtaining that separate refund.