Assessor and Representative explain rise in assessed values and possible changes to future property taxes
There was confusion - and anger - in many Ozark County homes when residents received an unwelcome letter from the Ozark County Assessor in their mailboxes in late June. The memorandum of understanding informed all real estate owners in Ozark County (residents in several other Missouri counties received similar letters from their assessors) that property values were raised. The letters are in response to the Missouri State Tax Commission enforcing raised “fair market values” across the state in connection with their stance that real estate and homes are now selling for more than the current assessed valuations and that values will continue to increase as properties sell.
What does this mean for the pocketbooks of landowners right now?
It means assessed valuation, which is 19% of market value, has been raised, which in turn will make real estate property taxes higher. Although all property owners in Ozark County will see the same percentage increase in valuation, some residents with lower value properties won’t see as drastic of a difference in taxes as those with higher value properties - who may see their property tax bill go up several hundred dollars.
The increase isn’t something Ozark County Assessor Jama Berry takes lightly, and it was definitely not something she wanted. In fact, she says she fought the increase in assessed valuation for years, especially in the past several months - going to Jefferson City and speaking with government officials several times - but it was to no avail.
According to Berry, this is an increase that is being enforced by the STC across the state, leaving many county assessors angry and real estate owners even angrier.
The Missouri STC is a constitutional agency established by the Missouri Constitution. The STC is responsible for, among other things, establishing statewide assessment standards and ensuring that the county assessors comply with the state-mandated valuation ratios.
Berry said she tried to keep the impact on the area real estate owners in Ozark County to a minimum. According to the STC’s 2023-24 residential sales study, Ozark County is currently at 45.81% of its assessed value. That is drastically under the “acceptable parameters” of 90% to 110% required by the STC.
Although the recommended valuation increase may positively affect market and resell values of homes, Berry says such a large and sudden increase in assessed valuations create a hardship many owners in Ozark County can’t handle. In light of that, Berry was able to talk the commission to increasing the valuations by only 12% - still a large increase, she admits, but significantly less than what the STC wanted.
Consequences of refusal
If Berry had refused to sign the memorandum of understanding or raise the valuations, if she had ignored the STC’s requirement, the assessor’s office would have faced severe consequences.
The first consequence would have been the withholding of state reimbursement. The loss for the Ozark County Assessor’s office would have been dramatic - almost $40,000, nearly 20% of the yearly budget. Losing that amount of money would have severely impacted the ability to run the office and continue helping taxpayers, said Berry.
“If I had said no to the increase, the STC would have withheld the funding and still ‘forced’ the Board of Equalization to increase the values anyway,” said Berry. “If the BOE refused to raise the values our county would have been turned over to the Missouri State Attorney General.”
Ultimately, she said there was no room for Ozark County to refuse the increase in valuation. So Berry agreed to raise the valuation, signing the memorandum of understanding and showing a good faith effort to get “in line” with the STC’s requirement.
But real estate owners are angry and confused. As of Tuesday, July 1, about 65 people had called the assessor’s office.
“Most people were wondering how much in tax dollars the increases will result in,” said Berry. “Everyone has been very understanding that the market has increased drastically and have been very easy to work with, which we appreciate. We completely understand that no one likes to see an increase in taxes, ourselves included.”
One caveat to the increase may be homes and property in areas severely damaged by the spring storms and floods. Those values may actually be reduced, according to the memorandum of understanding.
According to Berry, the average appraised value of residential homes in Ozark County was $58,730 in 2024. That appraised value went up to $66,624 in 2025. Assessed valuation is 19% of the appraised value. The assessed valuation is what is taxed by 16 entities in Ozark County, including school districts, roads and more. This makes the average real estate tax in 2024 $373.13. The 2025 real estate taxes will not be known until after the 2025 tax levies become available in September.
As an example, if the 2024 appraised value on a property was $100,000 and that went up by 12%, the 2025 appraised value would be $112,000. The new appraised value is taxed at 19% giving the new assessed valuation of $21,280 ($112,000 x 19% = $21,280). Based on the 2024 Gainesville R-5 school district levies, the taxes paid in 2024 would have been $665.36 vs $745.20 in 2025. “Again, we can’t give an exact amount of taxes due in 2025, until the tax levies are set in September,” stresses Berry.
She gave three real-world examples of real estate outside the Gainesville city limits in the same general area: an older home with less acreage, an older home with some farmland and a much newer and larger home without much land.
In the first case of the older home with less than five acres, the 2024 assessed valuation was $15,280 and the 2025 assessed valuation was raised $1,760 to $17,040. That increases the owner’s real estate taxes $61.63 - from $535.09 to $596.72.
The second neighbor with an older home on a small farm would also pay less than $100 in increased taxes, from $638.39 to $711.59, an increase of $73.20. The valuation of the real estate went from $18,230 in 2024 to $20,320 in 2025, an increase of $2,090 in valuation.
However, in the case of the third neighbor with the newer and larger home, the increase would be significantly more. The neighbor’s assessed valuation would go from $31,810 in 2024 to $39,880, an increase of $8,070. That would raise the owner’s real estate taxes $282.61, from $1,113.95 in 2024 to $1,396.56 for 2025.
SB190 and SB3
Those age 62 and older, won’t be affected as much, as long as they filled out the proper form in March and April, requesting their property taxes for their primary residence and one acre be frozen at the 2024 rate. They are the beneficiaries of SB190, the tax freeze for seniors that was passed in Ozark County in the fall of 2024. If seniors weren’t able to sign up for the freeze this spring, the sign-up period will again be held in March and April of 2026, and every March and April after that.
However, 155th District State Rep. Matthew Overcast recently highlighted a solution for all real estate owners with no age qualifier - the recently passed SB3.
“It’s important to set the record straight,” Overcast wrote recently. “The Missouri Legislature did NOT legislate these property tax increases…These actions by the STC are exactly why SB3 was necessary.
“SB3 returns control to local voters, allowing them - not unelected bureaucrats - to decide on freezing their property taxes. If voters approve a freeze, the STC can no longer mandate arbitrary increases.”
“The STC will still mandate we raise values,” said Berry. “What is frozen is the tax amount... Just because we raise values doesn’t mean an inevitable tax increase.”
Under SB3, counties can choose to freeze property taxes, protecting homeowners from future property tax increases. However, the only tax frozen is the same for SB3 as it is for SB190 - the primary residence and one acre. All other structures and land will continue to see an increase, said Berry.
Voters at the polls must approve SB3 for their respective counties by April 2026. If passed, property taxes on the homeowner’s primary residence will be frozen at the qualifying year’s amount, effectively preventing future assessment-driven increases mandated by the STC.
“The [STC] instructing Ozark County, and other counties, to raise property evaluations and tax liability is precisely why the property tax freeze provision in SB3 was vital,” State Sen. Brad Hudson wrote to the Times. “Under current law, the state tax commission sends out these memorandums of understanding to counties when their property tax evaluations aren’t high enough (as determined by the tax commission). If the counties don’t comply with an increase, their funds are withheld. This is WRONG and must be stopped.”
What will happen?
If Ozark County voters don’t pass SB3, Berry will most likely be forced to raise the assessed valuations once again in 2027. How much of an increase would depend on the STC and the sales ratio study that will be conducted in 2026.
And even if SB3 passes, Berry said Ozark County could still see an increase in assessed valuations. “Those numbers are based solely on sales in the county,” said Berry. “In essence, what a property sells for versus what we have it appraised at. If a house sells for $175,000, and we only have it appraised at $125,000, that would mean our values were only at 71% of market value for that specific property.
“Our guidelines in the State Tax Commission Assessor’s Manual require us to be 90-110%. The STC would say we are out of compliance. The ‘ideal’ appraised value for us would be $157,500-$192,500.
“SB3 does not change how our office operates, we will still have to operate under the rules of the STC. If it’s passed, the benefit would be no raise in taxes on the primary structure up to one acre. The raise in valuation and the raise in taxes are two different things,” she added.
“SB3 would allow valuations to go up, but tax liability on primary residences is froze. So you only pay what you did in 2024. This is a step in the right direction, and I look forward to continuing to work with my colleagues to do everything we can to help our citizens keep more of their hard earned money,” added Hudson.
The Board of Equalization
The BOE consists of the three county commissioners, county surveyor and two members of the community with knowledge in a related field. The board will meet from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the annual meeting on July 21. The board is currently taking appointments for the meeting that will be held in the Ozark County Commission office in the upstairs level of the Ozark County Courthouse in Gainesville.
Any individuals who feel their property tax assessments are incorrect or unfair should contact the Assessor’s office at 417-679-4705. If they wish to meet with the BOE, they should contact the Ozark County Clerk’s office at 417-679-3516 for an appointment to be scheduled.