09/01/2026
The more I study Jackson County’s property-tax system, the more convinced I become that we need to start asking better questions.
Over the last several weeks, I’ve been digging into assessments, township multipliers, the state equalization factor, tax levies, exemptions, school funding, county spending, and exactly which elected officials have authority over each part of the process.
And one thing has become very clear:
There is no single person who sets your property-tax bill.
Your township assessor matters.
The Board of Review matters.
The state equalization process matters.
Every taxing district that adopts a levy matters.
The amount of taxable property in the county matters.
And yes—the County Board matters too.
That is important, because if we are serious about lowering the property-tax burden, we cannot just point fingers at somebody else. We have to understand the entire system and then work on the parts we actually have the authority to change.
I’m running for the Jackson County Board, so I’m concentrating on what the County Board can actually do: scrutinize spending, question increases, examine the county levy, encourage economic development, grow our tax base, and make Jackson County a more attractive place to build a home or operate a business.
I’m also going to keep asking questions when the numbers don’t make sense.
Why are assessments changing the way they are?
Why are some areas being adjusted differently than others?
How much of an increase in a tax bill came from assessment changes, and how much came from higher levies?
How much taxable property are we losing to exemptions?
Are we growing our tax base—or simply asking the taxpayers who remain to carry more of the load?
Those aren't Republican questions or Democratic questions.
They are taxpayer questions.
Property taxes don't check your party registration before the bill arrives.
Jackson County needs people willing to dig into the numbers, understand how the system actually works, and explain it to the public in plain English.
That is exactly what I intend to keep doing.
Lower the burden. Grow the tax base. Ask the hard questions.
