The signal

A proposed settlement in Wheeler v. Beatty, Case No. 2416-CV25478, would return, as a credit or cash, the taxes that owners of residential property in Jackson County, Missouri paid in 2023 and 2024 on 2023 assessment increases above 15 percent. The circuit court preliminarily approved it and set a Fairness Hearing for November 23, 2026, at 9:30 a.m. in Division 60, where it will consider final approval. The deadline to object or to exclude yourself is November 18, 2026. To be paid, former owners and Class Members seeking reimbursement of appraisal or legal fees must file a claim by December 3, 2026. Current owners need no claim for the credit.

The word

“Overage.” The settlement notice defines it in one sentence: “Your credit or payment equals your ‘Overage:’ the difference between the 2023 and 2024 taxes you actually paid and the taxes you would have paid at the same tax rates if your valuation increase had been capped at 15% (excluding new construction and improvements).”

The notice describes the case: “The Missouri State Tax Commission, the Missouri State Auditor, and the Court have each found that the County’s 2023 reassessment did not comply with the law.” The lawsuit claims the increases were unlawful “because Jackson County did not perform the physical inspections and provide the notices Missouri law requires.” The same notice says the defendants “assert legal and procedural defenses under Missouri law to the claims asserted on behalf of the class of taxpayers.”

What it actually does

The class is defined in the notice: “All owners of residential real property in Jackson County, Missouri who paid real property taxes based on a 2023 assessed valuation that increased by more than fifteen percent (15%) over the prior assessment cycle, excluding increases due solely to new construction or improvements.”

If you still own the property, the notice says you “will automatically receive a tax credit equal to the amount you overpaid for 2023 and 2024.” The credit is “applied to your property tax bills in three equal installments over the 2026, 2027, and 2028 tax years.” If an installment is larger than the bill, “the unused amount carries forward until it is exhausted.” No claim is needed.

If you no longer own the property, including when “a family member who owned it has died,” there are two paths. If you own another residential property in the county, the notice says “you can receive the credit on that property’s tax bills, on the same three-year schedule, by submitting a simple claim form.” If you own none, “you can receive your overpayment in cash, paid over the same three annual periods, by submitting a claim form.”

The notice says the County “is establishing a $6,000,000 fund” to reimburse Class Members’ “documented out-of-pocket appraisal fees and legal fees incurred to challenge or respond to the reassessment.” The settlement agreement also lists “contingent attorney’s fees pursuant to contingent fee agreements to challenge or respond to the reassessment signed prior to July 8, 2026.” Claims are decided “by an independent administrator, not the County.” The notice adds: “There is no cap on an individual claim; if approved claims exceed the fund, payments are reduced proportionately.”

If you appealed your assessment or paid under protest, the notice says you are entitled to “a full cash refund of the overcharge that you have not previously received through the County’s existing protest-refund process, separate from this settlement,” and: “This settlement does not reduce, delay, or condition that refund, and you will not receive a double recovery of the same amount.” The settlement agreement’s Exhibit C, which describes the anticipated method for calculating each Class Member’s Overage, says to reduce the Total Overage “by any amount of the same Overage already refunded through a protest-impound or appeal refund (Agreement §§ 5.2, 5.4), and by any prior correction or credit already applied for the same amounts.”

The notice says the settlement “will be entered as a consent judgment with a court-ordered injunction,” and that “The County’s obligations cannot be undone by future County officials.”

This is a proposed settlement.

Who it hit

The class is the owners of residential real property in Jackson County who paid taxes on a 2023 valuation that rose more than 15 percent, excluding increases due solely to new construction or improvements. The notice does not break the class down by neighborhood, and this alert does not either.

The notice says a claim is “Required only if (1) you no longer own the taxed property, or (2) you seek reimbursement from the Special-Circumstances Fund.” For a current owner, the notice’s table says: “If you still own your property, you automatically receive your tax credit. You will be bound by the settlement and the release of claims.”