Inspections, According to the StL County Assessor’s Office

Review 2005 Missouri Revised Statutes %137.115, paragraphs 10 and 12:

http://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=137.115&bid=35127&hl=

The 18% increase in my property assessment in 2017, by definition, mandated that the County Assessor’s office inspect my property, per the above Missouri Statute.  So did they?

No, they did not.

Yes, a County inspector visited my house in April of 2017 and dropped off a postcard indicating such.  He might have even knocked on the door.  The inspector’s name was noted on the postcard, but I’m going to leave the individual’s name out of this discussion and deal with that elsewhere, because I don’t believe for one minute that this behavior is unique to this County inspector.  For the context of this discussion, I’ll change the name of the inspector to “Bert.”  You know, to protect the guilty.

So while “Bert” adequately accomplished dropping off a postcard, and maybe even knocked on the door, what he did not do was actually inspect my property.  How do I know for sure, since I might not have even been home when he was there?  Very simple – because of four clearly visible errors that still remained on my County Revenue property description until early 2019.

I live on a quarter-acre, un-wooded lot.  There’s a total of two trees.  I’m surrounded by similar properties on similar lots.  Very little of my property is not clearly visible from the sidewalk in front of the house.  Anything not visible from the front of my house is clearly visible from the sidewalk on the street behind my house.   If Bert had wanted to inspect my house, he could have done so easily without ever even stepping off the sidewalk.

Maps.Google.com/maps

In fact, Bert could have done a better job of inspecting my house if he had not wasted time going to my house to deliver a postcard and, instead, sat at his desk and looked at my house on Google 3D.  It, too, clearly depicts my property from every angle. 

I’m not talking small, inexpensive errors, or things that might have easily been overlooked.

The items in error are as follows:

•       The inclusion of a 525 sq ft deck that does not exist, and has not existed since 2012 when it was removed.  Worse, this deck replacement was done under a completed building permit filed with the County in 2012, so they had multiple opportunities to get it right.
•        The inclusion of an 84 sq ft porch that does not exist and never did.  When the County Revenue office added the new deck to my property description in 2012, they defined the entire deck as a porch, when in reality, and according to the building permit filed with them, and confirmed with the final permit inspection, and visible on Google,… only a portion of the deck is under roof.
•        The inclusion of a 4 x 9 sq ft lean-to greenhouse that hasn’t existed since 2012 when the deck was removed.  This greenhouse had been homemade from recycled patio doors and 2x4’s.  The County Assessor valued it at over $2,000.  The greenhouse should have never been on my property description in the first place since it was a temporary structure, and was not attached to the house nor on a permanent foundation.
•        The inclusion of a 7’ x 7’ hot tub that hasn’t been present on my property for nearly 20 years, and which I find questionable as to whether it should have ever been included on my property description in the first place.
•        The inclusion of 84 sq ft of undefined living space in the garage.  Or above it.  Or under it.  I don’t know.  It, too, does not exist and never has.

Ironically, the County wouldn’t even have been required to inspect my property if they had simply increased my property assessment by less than 15%.  Then they would have only been negligent in their maintenance of my property description, and not also in violation of Missouri Statutes.

I’m curious, since they’re obviously not actually “inspecting” properties while they’re driving around town, how much tax money are we paying County inspectors for delivering postcards….?