Missouri State Auditor Launches Investigation on October 26 into St. Louis County Property Tax Appeals Process
St. Louis County, Missouri — Missouri State Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick announced in the state capital, Jefferson City, on October 26 that the Auditor's Office has launched an investigation into the St. Louis County Board of Equalization's property tax appeals process. The office intervened after a whistleblower reported that the county's appeals process is unfair and may even be unlawful. The whistleblower pointed to the county's two-board system, and how appeals cases are routed between the two boards — and how one board rules in taxpayers' favor at a markedly higher rate — as a focus of the investigation. Fitzpatrick said the appeals process exists to protect property owners from unfair or excessive assessments, and that the process must comply with county and state law and be fair to taxpayers. The Auditor's Office has written to the Board of Equalization requesting records, including the number and types of appeals routed to each board, how the routing criteria are determined, and records of all appeal outcomes. During the investigation, anyone with information may provide it confidentially through the Auditor's Office whistleblower hotline, and the findings will be as officially announced.
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0，Farragutful
