 |
  |
|||||
| HOME |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Who is my township assessor and what does he/she do? Your township assessor is elected to a four-year term. They are the first step in the assessment process and have the responsibility of inspecting, listing and appraising your property. They are required to meet certain educational requirements before placing their name on the ballot. Lee County Township Assessor Contact Information What are the grounds for an appeal? An assessment appeal is not a complaint about higher taxes. It is an attempt to prove that your property’s estimated market value is either inaccurate or unfair. The grounds for an appeal are:
1 - Fair Cash
value.
The estimated fair cash (market) value of your
property is too high. You have
evidence that similar properties sold for less than the estimated market
value of your property.
2 - Assessment Equity.
The assessment of your property is inequitable with the assessments of other
similar properties. )
3 - Physical description.
The physical description used to determine the value
is incorrect.
)
4 - Matters of Law.
You allege an incorrect application of the law – typically with regard to
the application of preferential assessments or farmland.
Refer to the Board of Review Rules for information and guidelines regarding filing an appeal on the above-mentioned grounds.
2010 Board of Review Appeal Form
How do I research my assessment to see if it is accurate and fair? You have the right to inspect assessor’s records, which include information such as assessed values, square footage, lot size, sale information, etc. You may inspect the records for your property or any other property on-line at the Lee County GIS Parcel Maps and Property Information site. (www.countyoflee.org/assessor/gis_maps.html) or in the County Assessment Office, 112 E. Second Street, Dixon, IL 61021. I have done my research and believe my assessment is inaccurate or unfair. What is my next step?
First contact your local assessor or the chief county
assessment office and review your records for accuracy.
Perhaps you will be able to provide information regarding your
property that would affect the assessment.
In the event the assessor or County assessor
determines that no adjustment is necessary, you will need to file with the
Board of Review. Appeal forms
and current board of Review rules are available on-line at
What is an equalization factor or multiplier?
Equalization is the application of a uniform percentage increase or decrease
to assessed values in order to bring assessment levels, on average, to a
uniform level of market value.
Per the Illinois Property Tax Code assessments are statutorily required to
be at 33 1/3% of fair cash (market) value.
For a detailed explanation of the equalization process, please refer
to the Department of Revenue “Publication 136 – Property Assessment and
Equalization”.
Link to Publication 136 – Property Assessment and Equalization
) Will I be notified if my assessment changes?
Yes, if the assessor or CCAO has made an individual change to your
assessment. Taxpayers are mailed
a notice of change in their assessment reflecting individual assessor and/or
CCAO changes on or about October 1 of each year.
In addition, any individual changes must be published in a newspaper
of general circulation in each county.
Every four years a complete list of all assessments must be
published. Taxpayers have 30
days from the date of annual newspaper publication to file an assessment
appeal with the Board of Review.
When I get my tax bill, is it too late to appeal?
Yes, it is too late
to appeal your assessment after you have received your tax bill.
Assessments are finalized near the end of the calendar year.
Final assessments are certified to the Department of Revenue and
forwarded to the County Clerk to begin the process of calculating the tax
tills. At that point, our files
are closed and it is too late to change assessments.
However, it is
possible an error has been made in the calculation of your tax bill.
For example, if an exemption you qualify for was not applied, it may
be possible to receive a corrected tax bill. An incorrect judgment or
opinion of the value of the property is NOT justification for a corrected
bill. An opinion of value is an
economic concept, not a fact.
Rather, the Property Tax Code only allows for corrected tax bills in the
case of an indisputable fact, such as the application of a homestead
exemption or an incorrect physical description of the property which was
used to calculate the assessment.
If you suspect an error, contact the CCAO office for further details. Are there any exemptions that provide property tax relief? Yes, see Homestead Exemptions http://www.countyoflee.org/assessor/exempt.html. Contact the CCAO office if you would like additional information or applications.
Illinois, like many
other States, assesses farmland based on its agricultural use value rather
than its fair cash (market) value.
Section 10-115 of the Property Tax Code provides for an “agricultural
economic value”. This value is based
upon land use under average level management, relative productivity of
soils, and the present work of the net income accruing to the land from farm
production.
In order to qualify
for a special farmland assessment, Illinois law states the property in
question must have been used as a farm for the previous two years.
The statute defines farm as “any property used solely for the growing
and harvesting of crops; for the feeding, breeding, and management of
livestock; for dairying or for other agricultural or horticultural use or
combination thereof; …the keeping, raising and feeding of livestock or
poultry, …” A farmland
assessment will not be given to property which is primarily used for
residential purposes even though some farm products may be grown or farm
animals bred or fed on the property incidental to its primary use.
The assessment of
real property, including farm property in Illinois, is the responsibility of
the local county assessment officials.
However by law, certain responsibilities have been assigned to the State of
Illinois, particularly the Department of Revenue.
For example, the DOR is required to calculate soil productivity index
use-value figures and certify them to county officials each year.
These officials apply the figures to the identified soil types on
individual farms or parcels of farmland in order to establish an assessment.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
| HOME | COUNTY OFFICES | COUNTY BOARD | CONTACT US | LINKS | |
| Questions,
Comments, Problems? Contact the webmaster
last updated: 05/24/2011 |
