Understanding Assessments & Taxes


How Is My Property Assessed

First, the Township Assessor determines the Market Value of your property. Market Value is the amount you would expect to receive if you sold your property to a willing buyer. You can estimate the Market Value of your home by finding out what a home like yours is selling for in your neighborhood.

Each year your assessor receives information about all the homes that were sold in Homer Township and the prices paid for them. This sales information goes into the evaluation process along with other facts and figures about housing conditions. By comparing homes which have been sold recently with similar homes in the same neighborhood, the Township Assessor estimates how much all homes in the area would be sold for on the open market. By law, all property is subject to review every four year (quadrennial period). However legislation permits the Township Assessor to reassess property each year, if necessary.

Once the market value of properties is determined, the Township Assessor places the value of the property at a certain percentage of Market Value, which results in the assessed valuation of the property. All property (except Cook County) in the state of Illinois is assessed at 33 1/3% of market value.

The assessed value is the base which county, city, village, and township officials use when they determine property taxes. The Township Assessor’s job stops when they determine and certify the assessed value of the property. The Township Assessor does not determine your property taxes, does not compute your property taxes, does not send out your tax bills, and does not collect your property taxes.

What Assessed Value Means

          It is important for you to understand what the assessed valuation of your property means because you will receive documents from assessing officials and other governmental officials referring to the assessed valuation of your home. Real estate taxes are figured by other government agencies on the basis of the assessed valuation of you property.

          To help you understand an assessed valuation consider this if you own a home you think could sell for $150,000, the home would have a market value of $150,000. The assessed valuation would be 33 1/3% of the market value, which is $50,000.

 

Computing Your Tax Bill

By following this step-by step example, you will be able to compute your tax bill. In this example, we use a home with a market value of $150,000, along with the highest and lowest tax rates for 2000 in Homer Township.

 

Step 1

Find the assessed value of the home by taking $150,000 by 33 1/3%. (150,000 x .3333 = 50,000)

Step 2

Find the taxable valuation of your home by subtracting the General Homestead Exemption, Senior Citizen Exemption (if applicable) and other exemptions if necessary.

          Step 3

Find the taxes on your home by multiplying the taxable valuation by your local tax rate.

Step 1

              MarketValue                    150,000                 150,000       

              x .3333                                x .3333                  x .3333

              Assessed Valuation               50,000                  50,000

          Step 2

              Assessed Valuation               50,000                   50,000

              - General Homestead            -5,000                    -5,000

              - Senior Exemption               -3,500                    -3,500

              Taxable Valuation                 41,500                  41,500

 

          Step 3

              Taxable Valuation                 41,500                    41,500

              x Tax Rate                       x .064090                 x .089991

              Taxes                                  $2,659.74                $3,734.63

 

          Homer Township currently has over 30 different taxes rates which vary depending upon the different government services provided. Please feel free to contact the Assessor’s Office if you are unsure of yours.                       

 

What Role do Property Taxes Play                    

          Property taxes have played a major role in financing government since Illinois early days. Almost 7,000 local government units use property taxes to finance the majority of services that they provide to their citizens. The largest share of local property taxes goes to school districts for education.

 

Who Determines My Property Taxes

          You, as a taxpayer, actually determine the taxes, by your demands for services on the tax levying bodies in your district. The two pie charts illustrated to the right show you to which taxing bodies your tax dollars go.

 

 

 

 

Property Tax Extension Limitation Law

The Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL) is designed to limit increases in property tax extensions (total taxes billed) for non-home rule taxing districts. Increases in property tax extensions are limited to the lesser of 5 percent or the increase in the national Consumer Price Index (CPI) for the year preceding the levy year. The CPI used is the national CPI for all urban consumers for all items as published by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. The applicable December to December change is generally available in the middle of January. The web site for the CPI increase is www.bls.gov.

Although the law is commonly referred to as “tax caps,” use of this phrase can be misleading. The PTELL does not “cap” either individual property tax bills or individual property assessments. Instead, the PTELL allows a taxing district to receive a limited inflationary increase in tax extensions on existing property, plus an additional amount for new construction, annexations to the district, and voter-approved rate or limitation increases.

The limitation slows the growth of property tax revenues to taxing districts when property values and assessments are increasing faster than the rate of inflation. As a whole, property owners have some protection from tax bills that increase only because the market value of their property is rising rapidly. If a taxing district determines that it needs more money than is allowed under the PTELL, it can ask the voters to approve an increase. Payments for bonds issued without voter approval are subject to strict limitations.

The PTELL does not guarantee that individual tax bills will increase no more than the limitation. The PTELL limits increases in taxing districts’ extensions; however, individual tax bills may still increase or decrease. Some of the reasons individual tax bills could increase more than 5 percent or the CPI increase are voters approved an increase in tax rates or in the limitation, voters approved a bond issue or an increase in the debt service extension base, new bonds were issued before the cutoff date for bonds to be exempt from the PTELL, and the property had a homestead exemption or other exemption that was removed.

 

Assessment Terms

Assessed Value             The value placed upon property after multiplying the assessment level by the market value

Assessment Level          The percentage of full value at which property is assessed

Improvement                 Any structure attached to, lying upon or within the land, that may not be removed without physical stress.

Levy                               The amount of money a taxing body certifies to be raised, often subject to statutory limits

Neighborhood              The area that has a direct influence on value

PIN                               Permanent Index Number, a 10-diget number used to identify property for tax purposes.

Quadrennial Year         The general assessment year that occurs every four years when all property assessments are reviewed.

Tax Rate                        The amount of tax due in terms of a percent of tax base

Taxing Body                 A governmental organization that levies a tax

Taxing District              The geographic area whose boundaries define the taxing jurisdiction for a group or taxing bodies.

 

Additional Assessment Questions

          My staff or I will be happy to provide additional information, and I encourage you to contact us if you have any questions about these topics.