Jackson County assessment director Curtis Koons submitted his resignation today.
The action comes after reassessment problems led to many inflated values – a prelude to massive tax increases – that officials now say were mistaken.
The county this week mailed out reassessments of its previous reassessments to 68,000 property owners, many of them in Midtown.
Koons says in his resignation letter that he has worked hard with others to fix the problems, but “given the original errors occurring, I feel it is in the my best interest of myself, Jackson County Government, and the taxpayers of Jackson County that I offer my resignation….”
He added, “I regret my failure to inform my superiors of the difficulties that were occurring and the subsequent decisions that I made.”
Jackson County Executive Mike Sanders said Koons would stay pending an investigation into the matter.
Sanders said the review “includes an examination of all facets of the decision making process and the persons responsible.”
County officials have blamed part of the problem on massive state cutbacks in funding jobs for county assessment and data processing workers.
County officials also say there were often too few comparable sales in areas. Also, they do not count the low foreclosure sales that were common in recent years.
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