Judge rules in favor of Lee's Summit in case against county over 2023 assessments
Judge Derek Spencer, who was brought in from Cass County, specifically sided with the city on two counts: breach of contract and breach of the duty of good faith and fair dealing.
Jackson County likely to comply with latest order on assessments
The judgment comes nearly two months after a bench trial was held in Jackson County Circuit Court. The lawsuit was first filed in 2023.
The court's order, filed Wednesday, stated that the county broke contract by 'failing to provide necessary records of the tax rolls to the city.' It said that this ultimately prevented the city from collecting taxes and 'thereby prevented the city from receiving the benefit of the bargain': 1% of all taxes collected by the city pursuant to the contract the county and city have had since 2007.
It said it breached this contract on April 2, 2024, by excluding the city from the county's ASCEND system and the tax collection process.
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The judgment awards damages to Lee's Summit for $259,137.08, and said the city is entitled to pre-judgment and post-judgment interest.
On all other counts, the judge ruled in favor of the county, but added:
'Mandamus and declaratory judgment relief are not appropriate relief as many of the issues related to the 2023 assessments relate to the discretion exercised by Ms. McCann Beatty and Mr. Frank White Jr., and certain rights the City request the Court enforce are not clear rights expressed in statutes enacted by the Legislature.'
This is a developing story; FOX4 will provide updates as they're madea available.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Miami Herald
2 hours ago
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CBS News
a day ago
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Gender identity no longer among Iowa's civil rights protections as new law takes effect
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Some additional states do not explicitly protect against such discrimination, but it is included in legal interpretations of statutes. Five years ago, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled LGBTQ people are protected by a landmark federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in the workplace. But Iowa's Supreme Court has expressly rejected the argument that discrimination based on sex includes discrimination based on gender identity. The months between when the bill was signed into law and when it took effect gave transgender Iowans time to pursue amended birth certificates before that option was eliminated. Keenan Crow, with LGBTQ+ advocacy group One Iowa, said the group has long cosponsored legal clinics to assist with that process. "The last one that we had was by far the biggest," Crow said. Iowa's Department of Transportation still has a process by which people can change the gender designation on their license or identification card but has proposed administrative rules to eliminate that option. Wichtendahl also said she has talked to some families who are looking to move out of state as a result of the new law. "It's heartbreaking because this is people's lives we're talking about," Wichtendahl added. "These are families that have trans loved ones and it's keeping their loved ones away, it's putting their loved ones into uncertain future, putting their health and safety at risk."
