STATE APPEALS DUNKLIN TAX INDEX RULING;. HIGH COURT ASKED TO RULE AFTER DECISION FOR COUNTY

KENNETT -- Dunklin County Assessor Donna Abmeyer sometimes feels like she's fighting the proverbial city hall. Her nearly two-year fight with the Missouri Tax Commission continues even after a win earlier this month in circuit court.

The state tax commission has filed an appeal of the circuit court decision with the Missouri Supreme Court. The high court hasn't said if it will hear the case.

In Dunklin County, the fight is over the index figure used to factor market values of property during reassessment. The indexes vary from county to county and are set by the tax commission.

The tax commission initially told Dunklin County it should use an index of 1.98. Abmeyer's research showed that growth in the county didn't warrant such a large jump and that the index figure should be 1.56.

"I feel like we're fighting the whole state of Missouri," Abmeyer said. "But it definitely is worth the fight. I am representing the people of Dunklin County. I was elected to do a fair and equal job, and that is what I want to do."

Every odd-numbered year county assessors are required by law to adjust property assessments to reflect fair market value. A booming real estate market caused market values to jump in recent years, and assessed values haven't kept pace. As a result the state tax commission ordered counties to set their appraisal indexes at a minimum of 1.70.

Circuit Judge Stephen Sharp ruled April 1 that the county was right and the index should be 1.56.

Randy Turley, chief counsel for the tax commission, said one key element in the appeal is an argument over the year in which to apply the changes. The tax commission thinks they should be applied for 1997, and has asked that the case be expedited through the appeals process to make that possible.

Typically, an appeal's case could take six months or more. "We'd like to have a decision within six weeks," Turley said. "That may be optimistic."

Abmeyer said she is waiting for the next round. "I'm ready to still fight just as hard as we have for the past year and a half or two years," she said.

Although the tax commission ordered nearly all Missouri counties to undergo a major reassessment, only six southern Missouri counties mounted court challenges.

Turley said a case in Pemiscot has been continued and no trial date has been set. Cases in Shannon and Reynolds counties were settled with an index of 1.55. Cases in Carter and Ripley have seen no activity. All other counties in the state have settled with the tax commission and are proceeding with reassessment.