Appraiser’s Experience Bolsters Taxpayers’ Lower Home Valuation

A Missouri couple was entitled to rely on an independent appraiser’s assessment of the value of their residential lakefront property rather than the county’s higher assessment because the independent appraiser had more experience valuing properties in the area, a state tax commission ruled Monday.

William and Mary Prue said Jackson County overvalued their Lake Lotawana property as “waterfront” because shallow water caused by drought impeded their access to the lake by boat during the summer months.

The county put the property’s fair market value at $690,000 and the assessed value at $131,100 as of Jan. 1, 2023.

William Prue testified ...