Pierre Chouteau Condominiums v. State Tax Commission

Taxation of real estate is a controversial subject which has occupied a great deal of this Court’s time over the years, without great progress in the resolution of recurring problems. Both the federal and state constitutions mandate equality in assessed valuation,1 but equality is a relative term because there is no such thing as “true value” and any assessment is a mere estimate. Cupples Hesse Corporation v. State Tax Commission, 329 S.W.2d 696, 700 (Mo.1959). The judicial role, furthermore, is a limited *516one. The courts are not capable of correcting all inequities in assessment.

When the…