Deadline to appeal Wyandotte County property tax valuations closes in
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Homeowners in Wyandotte County have a few more days to get help with their property tax appraisals.
The deadline to appeal is March 30, meaning homeowners need to get their paperwork postmarked by the end of the week.
Wyandotte County officials had the last of nine public meetings trying to explain the process to homeowners and help them through the appeals process.
“[The appraisal] went up $34,000 this year,” said KCK resident John Gould. “Nothing done to my house at all.”
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That’s why Gould says he’s already started the appeals process to try to bring his assessed value and property taxes down too.
“If I’m going to fix my house up, yeah, charge me more and my valuation goes up but if I’m not going to fix my house up, don’t charge me more,” Gould said.
That’s why Wyandotte County Appraiser Matt Willard spent his afternoon walking other residents through the work his office does.
“What we value to is fair market value, defined as what a property is going to sell for as of January 1 in a given tax year,” Willard said.
He says active and aggressive housing markets have make those values jump the last few years but that they are slowing down.
“There’s that idea that we’re just over-appraising, and when we get to the statistics, it’s within standards and on the lower end of the acceptable standard,” Willard said. “So, not saying it doesn’t happen that a property is overvalued but the typical property is going to be about 10% under.”
That’s why he encourages residents to use the appeal process and says that last year about 40% of the appeals resulted in lower appraisals.
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“It’s a 20-minute conversation what it winds up being to come visit, talk about the property, talk about how we value the property, and take that information that folks want to bring into us to look at,” Willard said.
FOX4 asked what you need to bring to your appeal meeting.
Updated information about your home’s condition including pictures
Comparable sales, which can be found either online or through the county
Private appraisals
“I got a HomeVestor to come look at my house and got a gauge of the price that they would give me and it was $77,000 less than what the county appraised it at,” Gould said.
You can find more information about filing an appeal here and here.
