23-04-2025
Three Jackson County legislators call on AG Bailey to investigate Frank White
FOX4 reached out for comment to a spokesperson for Frank White, but has not received a response back.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Three Jackson County legislators have called on Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey to investigate County Executive Frank White amid a two-year-long battle about potentially illegitimate property tax assessments in the county.
On Monday, April 21, Jackson County Legislators Sean Smith, Manuel Abarca IV and Venessa Huskey wrote a letter to Bailey, listing four 'concerning' actions of White and his administration and why an investigation is necessary.
Missouri Tax Commission orders Jackson County to roll back 2023 assessments
The first complaint says White failed to work at the Office of the County Executive full-time, despite being required by Article III, Section 7 of the Jackson County Charter.
The legislators claim, during weekly legislative meetings since May 2024, that the Chief of Staff has been 'unable to account for Mr. White's whereabouts,' and that White's role as a minor league baseball coach for the Monarchs hinders his ability to fulfill his duties as a county executive.
Secondly, the letter says White's recommended annual budget documents failed to include the required corresponding figures for the previous completed fiscal year and the current fiscal year.
Any 2025 budget documents must include actual numbers from 2023 and up-to-date numbers for 2024 before it is created.
However, as of today, the letter says White has not included the 2023 or 2024 numbers in this year's budget recommendation, despite the figures being available.
In relation to complaint two, the legislators say the county has been disputing the previously approved 2025 budget after White vetoed it in December 2024.
According to the letter, because of the veto, there is no definitive 2025 budget. This has led White's Administration to direct staff to upload the 2024 budget in its place.
The legislators say this removes 'critical financial controls meant to prevent expenditure of funds that have not been lawfully appropriated,' and that the majority of the legislators have restricted their expenditures due to the uploaded 2024 budget being unlawfully enacted.
It is also said that restricted expenditures can be temporarily taken from the prior year's budget amounts, as long as they relate to salaries, per County Code of Ordinances 530.2.
However, it is alleged that White didn't limit his expenditures of the prior year's budgets to only salaries, but made an 'unlawful' and 'egregious' disbursement to a Non-Governmental Organization for a $5,000 scholarship.
Lastly, the legislators call for the investigation due to White's recent veto of the State Tax Commission's August 2024 order concerning the 2023 biannual property reassessments in the county.
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According to the letter, the ordinance simply directs his administration to 'follow the law' with respect to the STC, and that vetoing the ordinance 'signals his intent to defy compliance with the STC order, even after it was challenged by the administration and was upheld.'
The legislators say investigations by the AG's office are more urgent than ever because Jackson County's 2025 biannual assessment is nearing its statutory deadline in June, when the county will share valuation notices to property owners.
These notices are said to be subject to limitations on increases depending on the prior assessments' .
'By ignoring the STC Order, Mr. White is placing another assessment year in serious jeopardy with grave consequences for property owners, our taxing jurisdictions and even the fiscal stability of the county,' the legislators say.
Read the legislators' full letter here.
Legislator Smith will be speaking in a news conference at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday about the recent updates in the Jackson County property assessment saga, and will join community volunteers to turn in thousands of signatures calling for the resignation of White.
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