2014 ASSESSMENTS
My staff and I have completed the 2014 assessments.  The equalization notice was published in the Examiner newspapers on September 17, 2014.  The final date to file an assessment appeal for 2014 is October 17, 2014. 

Although the real estate market in our area improved in 2013 and 2014, for the fifth consecutive year, assessed values in Wayne Township were reduced.  If this improvement in the market continues, assessments will likely begin to increase again in 2015 or 2016.

As required by state statute, assessments each year are based on sales that occurred during the previous three years.  For 2014, the assessments in Wayne Township received a .9766 equalization factor, meaning that assessments went down 2.34%.  Your assessment, multiplied by three, indicates the estimated market value of your property as of January 1, 2014, based on sales that occurred between 2011 and 2013.  Please call my office at (630)231-8900 if you have questions about your 2014 assessed value.

If you recently purchased your property and have received letters from attorneys or consultants offering to represent you in an assessment appeal, please call my office before signing any agreement with them.  If a reduction is warranted based on the purchase price, you should not have to pay a portion of your tax savings to a third party. 

TAX RATE INCREASES TO BE CORRECTED

The 2013 tax bills (payable in 2014) that were recently paid by residents of School District U-46 and Community College District 509 were incorrectly calculated by the Illinois Department of Revenue, but corrected adjustments will be made on next year's tax bills.

My office received hundreds of phone calls from residents of these taxing districts after the tax bills were issued in April.  I made inquiries with the Illinois Department of Revenue and DuPage County Clerk’s office regarding the calculation of the 2013 tax rates.  I also encouraged residents to contact the Department of Revenue with questions about the rate increases. 

These inquiries led to the discovery that the Department of Revenue miscalculated the apportionment of the tax burden between the Cook, DuPage, and Kane County portions of the School District U-46 and Community College District 509.

The miscalculation was based on incorrect assessment data submitted by the Kane County Clerk to the Department. Each year the Illinois Department of Revenue must collect data from all three counties and calculate the shared burden of the districts to ensure all residents in the district are paying their fair share.

Because of this miscalculation, the tax burden was shifted to the DuPage residents of these districts, causing the excessive tax rate increases. Tax bills would have increased by approximately 6 to 7 percent even without this miscalculation, due to increased spending by the taxing districts, instead of the current increases in excess of 10%.

I am pleased that the Department of Revenue will make the corrected adjustments next year.  While the legal function of my office is limited to assessing properties, I will monitor the tax rate calculations closely next year to ensure that the corrected adjustments are made. 

The 2014 corrected tax rates (payable 2015) will reflect both the corrected apportionments between counties and the overpayments made by DuPage County residents for 2013.