Property tax increases threaten Ozark County

Editor’s note: This letter to the editor is in reference to an article printed in last week’s edition (See “Assessor forced to up valuation 12 percent,” June 18, 2025, edition or on www.ozarkcountytimes.com). Rep. Matthew Overcast has reached out to the Times to emphasize that the legislature is currently working on SB3 to address this situation (see related article at right). A more in-depth story will be printed in the July 9 edition concerning the increase, the state tax commission and what our senators and representatives are doing in response to the valuation increases.

I am writing in response to your recent article about the county assessor being forced to implement a 12% property valuation increase. As a concerned resident, I believe our community needs to understand the devastating impact this will have on everyone, particularly our senior citizens and low-income residents.

Ozark County Census data (2020) states 29% of residents are age 60 or older. Median income is $32,197—well below state and national averages. While facing rising costs for utilities, groceries and other necessities, Social Security benefits increased by only 2.5% (2025). A 12% property tax assessment increase far outpaces any cost-of-living adjustments received.

This isn’t just about numbers on a tax bill; it’s about longtime residents potentially being forced from homes they lived in for decades. It’s about families having to choose between paying property taxes and buying medications or groceries. It’s about the very character of our rural community being threatened by tax policies that ignore our economic reality. We need assessment increase caps that align with actual income growth in our community, not arbitrary percentages that sound reasonable in wealthy counties but devastate rural areas like ours.

Our elected officials should be fighting for legislation that protects residents from dramatic assessment increases. Most importantly, they should remember that their job is to serve the people who elected them. I call on Representative Overcast to publicly outline his specific plans to address this crisis. The people of Ozark County deserve to know how their representative intends to protect them.

I also encourage fellow residents to contact Representative Overcast office and call for action. This affects all of us—if we don’t speak up now, Ozark Countians will continue to face property tax assessment increases every 2 years.

Kathryn Cantrell, 

Wasola