KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Jackson County faced criticism in the past about property values and how much tax money homeowners needed to pay.

New assessments are expected to be mailed to property owners in the coming weeks. Before they hit mailboxes, the assessor’s office answered questions about the process.

People living in Kansas City’s Westside say they are bracing for higher assessments this year.

Their fears stem from 2019, when many homeowners on Kansas City’s Westside were in danger of losing their homes after property values doubled.

One homeowner sued, claiming her home was overvalued and wanted all property assessments thrown out.

Since then, Jackson County says it has worked to increase transparency surrounding the process. Employees have visited properties across the county over the past two years. They’ve collected new information about properties and entered all of the updated results into a database.

Jackson County’s assessor’s department said it knows not everyone will be happy with the tax bill they receive.

“Right now we’re working off an estimate. We’re looking at about a 30% [increase]. I want people not to panic. We are still in the process of reviewing our values and that is countywide,” said Gail McCann Beatty, Jackson County assessment director.

You’re going to see some jurisdictions that are less and some areas are going to see a little bit more. We ask them to be patient with us. They will be getting a notice here within the next month.”

Jackson County will send out property tax assessments to more than 300,000 homeowners.

Homeowners who disagree with the assessment can appeal.