Notices of 2020 property assessments sent to all Paxton-area landowners


A “notice of property assessment” was sent to every landowner in Patton and Button townships recently by the Ford County Supervisor of Assessments Office.PHOTO CREDIT: Will Brumleve/Ford County Chronicle

A “notice of property assessment” was sent to every landowner in Patton and Button townships recently by the Ford County Supervisor of Assessments Office.PHOTO CREDIT: Will Brumleve/Ford County Chronicle

By WILL BRUMLEVE
[email protected]

PAXTON — Every landowner in Patton and Button townships in Ford County was recently sent a notice of their 2020 property assessment, regardless of whether their assessment changed, Supervisor of Assessments Kim Hooper said.

The notices were sent as a requirement of the quadrennial reassessment process, which occurs every four years, Hooper said.

Hooper said 2020 was the year that Patton and Button townships, in the Paxton area, were subject to the quadrennial reassessment.

Next year, Rogers, Mona, Pella and Brenton townships in northern Ford County will undergo a quadrennial reassessment, followed by Drummer and Dix townships in the Gibson City and Elliott areas in 2022 and Lyman, Wall, Peach Orchard and Sullivant townships in 2023.

Hooper said that in Patton and Button townships, “everybody got a notice” earlier this month comparing their property’s 2019 equalized assessed valuation with their assessed valuations for 2020.

“Everyone in the Paxton area got notices, whether they had a change or not,” Hooper said.

Meanwhile, any landowner whose farmland’s assessed value changed in 2020 was also sent a notice, but only as a courtesy.

“We’re not required to mail those notices out (for farmland value changes), but I still do,” Hooper said, “because I just don’t feel like you should get that surprise when you get your tax bill.”

All Drummer Township landowners also received notices as a courtesy, regardless of if the value of their properties changed, Hooper said, after the township’s equalization factor for 2020 was set at 5 percent based on a sales-ratio study by the state.

Property owners in other areas of the county did not receive notices unless their property values were changed, Hooper said.

Hooper said any landowner who wishes to appeal their new assessment can do so through Ford County’s website, www.fordcounty.illinois.gov, or by requesting that an appeal form be mailed or emailed to them. People can request an over-the-phone hearing with the Ford County Board of Review or instead ask for an in-person hearing, Hooper said. During the hearing, landowners are given an opportunity to present their evidence.

The last day to file an assessment appeal is Nov. 13.

“If you believe the fair market value of your property is incorrect, or its assessed value is not uniform with other comparable properties in your area, or an error has been made (e.g., property characteristics) you should first talk to your assessor,” the notices sent to landowners stated. “Before filing an appeal, an attempt should be made to review the details of your property with your local assessor. If you are not satisfied with that information review, you may appeal your assessment to the Board of Review.”

For more information about the process, landowners can call the supervisor of assessments office at 217-379-9430.