County reassessing real estate property

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (News-Press NOW) — Buchanan County residents may see an increase in the appraised value of their real estate property.

County officials are reassessing real estate for 2025. Buchanan County residents who see an increase in their assessed value will be mailed a change of value notice around the beginning of May.

“It will say what their 2024 assessed value was and appraised value, and then underneath it will show the 2025 appraised value and assessed value,” Buchanan County Assessor Dean Wilson said. “So you can compare 2024 and 2025 to see how much of an increase you have.”

The change of value notice is sent out to avoid any surprises when residents receive a tax bill in the mail in November.

But an increase in appraised value does not always mean real estate taxes will go up. Wilson said tax rates are set by local taxing entities, such as school districts, the city and library districts, that set their budgets to determine how much money needs to be collected each year.

“What we do is we will apply a value or come up with a value for both real estate and personal property,” he said. “The actual taxes are determined, again, by the tax rate with the taxing entity. So our primary job is to just establish a value for both real estate and personal property.”

The budgets for local taxing entities are not finalized until September, so it can’t be determined whether real estate taxes will change until later in the year.

Residents who receive a change of value notice and disagree with the appraised value can contact the assessor’s office to schedule an informal meeting.

Wilson asks that residents who schedule a meeting bring information to support their claim for a lower value, such as a settlement statement within the last two years.

“We will sit down with anybody that wants to set up a time to come in and have an informal hearing if they believe their assessed value is too high,” he said.