The Kansas City Star has an interesting article on why property taxes keep going up despite the downturn in the housing market, which would presumably lead to assessments going down. The reason is that property values are supposed to be set at their January 1 value, so the last 11 terrible months in housing values don’t count. Also, the comparable sales method used to set values can come from any time since Jan. 1, 2005. The hope would be that the 2009 assessment would capture much of the housing downturn of the past year, but how much do you want to bet it doesn’t?

On the same subject, the Sunday Joplin Globe had a very reasonable editorial on the assessment situation in Jasper County and around the state. While I don’t agree with the Globe that we should replace property taxes with higher income or sales taxes (particularly income taxes), it was nice to read their well thought-out editorial. I do agree with them on the importance of having a general debate about how we tax and spend here in Missouri. We have not agreed with the Globe’s editorials much here at SMI, with their opposition to toll roads and support of Internet taxation, but this was a good one.

For my own ideas on how we can change the assessment system in Missouri, here is my recent article on the subject. Also, don’t forget that your property taxes are due by December 31! And the above links came from Combest, so let’s give him a Christmas shout-out!