City of Neosho wins judgment against Newton County for withholding TIF money

On April 6, 2023 the Circuit Court entered a summary judgment for the City of Neosho and against Newton County and two of its officials, which establishes their liability to pay tax money to the City.

The court has set a trial on June 29, 2023 to determine the amount of taxes and interest the City will collect.

The County has already collected and wrongly retained those tax amounts.

Furthermore, the court ruled that the County must pay interest to the City for the tax amounts it mishandled.

The taxes were from the Neosho tax increment financing (“TIF”) redevelopment area. Missouri’s TIF law expressly requires that the County pay to the City certain sales and property taxes collected in that redevelopment area.

The City filed a lawsuit on October 6, 2021 to recover those taxes which will provide needed public services and facilities.

David Streubel, an attorney representing the City in the lawsuit, said “The court’s ruling makes clear that the County had no legitimate reason to keep the City’s tax money. The City is gratified that it that it will recover those funds with interest for the benefit of the taxpayers.”