Assessor’s Office

Determining Assessed Value

The purpose of assessed value is to proportion the tax burden over all taxable property in a fair and equitable manner. The assessed value of a parcel of property is set at 1/3 of its market value. Every year, our office determines the market value of each taxable parcel of property in the township. Characteristics of your property (size of lot, type of home, number of bathrooms, garage, swimming pool, etc.) and characteristics of the neighborhood are taken into consideration when determining market value.

Market Value

In General, we use three approaches to determine market value:

• Sales approach: Compares a property to similar properties that have sold recently.
• Cost Approach: Determines how much money it would take at current material and labor costs to replace a property with a similar one.
• Income Approach: The value of the property is determined by its income stream or its net operating income.

Property Record Card

Once the value of a parcel of property is determined, all the information used to calculate its assessed value is placed on the Property Record Card. These cards are kept in our office and are available for your inspection.

Notice of assessed Value

The Chief County Assessment Office mails a ‘Notice of Assessed Value” to each property owner. Called the “Blue Card,” the notice includes:

The property’s location and permanent index number.
Last year’s and this year’s assessed value.
An explanation of how assessed value is determined.
Information about how to check for accuracy.
Information about how to appeal the assessment.

Taxation

As noted, the Assessor’s office is not responsible for the second major component of the tax system: taxation. However, we are including a few facts about taxation and would be happy to discuss this component of the tax system in more detail with you.

Taxing Authorities

Taxing authorities include government bodies such as school districts, park districts, municipalities, library districts and the township. As taxpayers, we demand certain levels of service from these taxing bodies which are paid for through our taxes. If you are concerned about your taxes, you may wish to attend budget hearings, call or write board members, or serve as an elected official.

Tax Rate

Taxing authorities set the tax rates and levy taxes. The tax rate is calculated by dividing the amount of taxes to be raised by the total assessed value of property within the taxing authority.

Tax Spending / Total Assessed Value = Tax Rate %

Tax Bills

Tax bills are issued by the Lake County Treasurer’s Office. Taxes may be paid in two installments: the first installment due the first week of June and the second due the first week of September. The Treasurer’s office can be contacted at 847-377-2323 .

Your tax bill is calculated by multiplying your property’s assessed value by the tax rate.

Assessed Value X Tax Rate = Your Taxes