As Johnson County residents face higher property taxes, a Shawnee man has created a website to help them appeal their property’s valuation. Even as most local governments have kept a flat mill levy for this year, many homeowners still face an increase in their property tax bills, reflective of the ever-rising home values across nearly all of Johnson County. That’s why Shawnee resident Ben Jacobi wanted to figure out a way to provide residents of Johnson and Wyandotte counties some relief. “I see the conversations dominating these neighborhood groups that I’m in on Facebook. People are very emotional, they’re very upset. So you combine that with the fact that a lot of people just don’t like navigating (the) government… I figured there’s got to be a way to make it easier,” he said. In his free time during the past two months, Jacobi used his 25 years of software development experience and love of crunching numbers to create TaxEquity. With assistance from real estate agent Doug Pearce, the site helps property owners gauge if their property value may be calculated too high and, if so, helps them appeal it.
Read more: Johnson County Post
