October 15, 2022

Submitted by John Murphy

My name is John Murphy, and I am running for the 2nd District-at-Large seat on the Jackson County Legislature and I’ve never run for office before. At-Large means it is for all of Jackson County, meaning if you live anywhere in the county and vote you can vote for me. I’m fighting to stop Jackson County’s massive property tax increase in 2023. The following article will detail why I’m running and how I’ll help the good folks of Jackson County.

2019 was a very bad year property tax assessment-wise for many county residents. Unfortunately, 2023 is shaping up to be much worse.

Jackson County has hired Tyler Technologies out of Plano, TX to do this year’s assessments and is paying them $17million. The County Assessor’s office has hired 100 new staff members to do in home assessments – they used to have four. The law requires an in-home inspection if you contest your appraisal and your assessment has increased by 15% or more, unfortunately, an in-home inspection can result in an even higher assessment when these assessors start “discovering” things. In addition, Jackson County has informed the State of Missouri to expect a record number of wide appeals-at least 60,000. The 2019 assessment set the last record at 30,000 appeals. All the above point to a massive increase in property taxes in our county, which is what we are hearing. The average, property tax assessment in Jackson County is set to rise 45%. In addition, Frank White has stated that, if elected this will be his last term-meaning he has nothing to lose. This needs to be stopped.

My goal is two pronged:

1. Seniors: Cap property tax assessments for retired seniors. The year they retire they lock-in their property taxes at that rate and it stays at that rate until they leave their properties. Seniors are living on a fixed income and cannot afford a 45% property tax increase. This should have been done years ago.
2. Everyone Else: The county assesses property every 2 years I would like to place a cap of 5% on everyone’s property assessments -meaning that your assessment will not rise more than 5% every two years. If your property truly has risen 45% then you have 15 years to figure it out. Currently Jackson County wants it all year one.

Inflation, gentrification, and a housing shortage have contributed to a sharp rise in the values of our homes; however, our incomes have not kept up with inflation. This disparity, coupled with the high prices for food, fuel and everything else, will cause a lot of pain for many. I plan on stopping this. Please consider voting for me on November 8, 2022.

John Murphy, originally a NYC native, has lived in the Brookside neighborhood of Kansas City with his family for the past 22 years. Murphy is active in his parish, HOA and co-founded Citizens for Responsible Government (CFRG) in 2013 to oppose the KCI boondoggle. To find out more: www.go-murph-go.com.