My question involves real estate located in the State of: Missouri
We recently purchase a home located in a "subdivision" in a small town in Missouri. Originally, there was a paved road that ended at a plot of land. In 2001, this plot of land was divvyed up into sections for the purpose of selling lots and a subdivision was created. The existing paved road was extended into this newly formed subdivision, however, the extension wasn't paved. It's gravel. The name of the road isn't different from the paved portion and the house numbers continue in order from the existing homes prior to the subdivision being built. We have city water, trash and sewer and pay city taxes. We learned after a few months of living there, going into the winter season, that the city does not maintain the road and will not blade it when it snows or is covered in ice. This was confusing to me because we are in the city limits and pay city taxes. There are 8 homes on this road and 5 are on the gravel portion. Those 5 contribute to nearly 80% of the city's tax revenue. When attending a city council meeting, I was told that the road isn't their responsibility even though it's in city limits. They kept referring me to the Dept. of Natural Resources. They had no clear evidence to support that it wasn't their responsibility and couldn't point me in the right direction with certainty. It was beyond frustrating and confusing. I reached out to the County commissioner only for him to tell me that they may have done an illegal annexation (I have no idea what that means), but he couldn't say with certainty and wouldn't put it in an email for me due to reprisal. It's a small town/county.
The city insists that the owner of the property who developed it into a subdivision is responsible for maintaining it. We have no HOA fee's and I reviewed the by-laws of the subdivision and there is nothing pertaining to road maintenance.
I just don't know who to go to that could give me a definitive answer. Can someone simply extend an existing road, lay down gravel, and just own that portion because it's on their land? And furthermore, can the city collect property taxes from homeowner's in this situation?
We recently purchase a home located in a "subdivision" in a small town in Missouri. Originally, there was a paved road that ended at a plot of land. In 2001, this plot of land was divvyed up into sections for the purpose of selling lots and a subdivision was created. The existing paved road was extended into this newly formed subdivision, however, the extension wasn't paved. It's gravel. The name of the road isn't different from the paved portion and the house numbers continue in order from the existing homes prior to the subdivision being built. We have city water, trash and sewer and pay city taxes. We learned after a few months of living there, going into the winter season, that the city does not maintain the road and will not blade it when it snows or is covered in ice. This was confusing to me because we are in the city limits and pay city taxes. There are 8 homes on this road and 5 are on the gravel portion. Those 5 contribute to nearly 80% of the city's tax revenue. When attending a city council meeting, I was told that the road isn't their responsibility even though it's in city limits. They kept referring me to the Dept. of Natural Resources. They had no clear evidence to support that it wasn't their responsibility and couldn't point me in the right direction with certainty. It was beyond frustrating and confusing. I reached out to the County commissioner only for him to tell me that they may have done an illegal annexation (I have no idea what that means), but he couldn't say with certainty and wouldn't put it in an email for me due to reprisal. It's a small town/county.
The city insists that the owner of the property who developed it into a subdivision is responsible for maintaining it. We have no HOA fee's and I reviewed the by-laws of the subdivision and there is nothing pertaining to road maintenance.
I just don't know who to go to that could give me a definitive answer. Can someone simply extend an existing road, lay down gravel, and just own that portion because it's on their land? And furthermore, can the city collect property taxes from homeowner's in this situation?
Maintenance and Repair: How to Determine Who Owns My Road for Property Tax Purposes
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