The Supervisor of Assessments is responsible for overseeing the valuation of all real property within their jurisdiction for the purpose of real estate taxation. The assessment process plays an important role in local government. Equitable assessments assure property owners that they are paying their fair share of the costs of operating schools, providing police and fire protection, road construction and maintenance, and other basic public services.

The Supervisor of Assessments is concerned with value and does not collect taxes, calculate taxes or determines the tax rate. Taxing jurisdictions such as schools, cities, and townships, adopt budgets which determine the tax levy. The actual dollar amount of your tax bill is determined by how much money these local agencies need to operate. Every dollar of property tax remains in the local area to fund local government.

The Supervisor of Assessments is the clerk of the board of review and is present at all the hearings.  The board of review hears complaints from taxpayers concerning real estate assessments, and renders decisions regarding values of property.  The Supervisor of Assessments also prepares and maintains up-to-date tax maps, lists of property owners’ names and addresses, property record cards, and administers all homestead and non-homestead exemptions.

Components of the Property Tax

Property taxes have two components: 1) the value placed on the land and its improvements (assessment) and; 2) the amount of money requested by the taxing bodies (levies).

The assessment process begins with a value placed on the property by the township assessor, continues with the county Supervisor of Assessments, and appeals to the Board of Review and then the State Property Tax Appeal Board, and finally administrative review in the courts. The other factor in the equation begins with local taxing bodies determining the amounts they need to levy, and filing those with the county clerk. The county clerk computes the amount of tax due from each parcel (a process called extension) and the county treasurer sends out the tax bills, then collects and distributes the taxes to the taxing bodies. Both the county clerk and treasurer have responsibilities in conducting the sale of delinquent taxes subsequent redemptions.

Important Links

Illinois Department of Revenue
http://tax.illinois.gov

Illinois General Assembly
www.ilga.gov/

Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board
www.state.il.us/agency/ptab/default.htm

State of Illinois
www.illinois.gov/

Illinois Department of Veterans' Affairs
http://www.state.il.us/agency/dva/

Illinois Department on Aging
http://www.state.il.us/aging/

Illinois Department of Natural Resources
http://www.dnr.state.il.us/

Illinois Chamber of Commerce
http://www.ilchamber.org/

Illinois Farm Bureau
http://www.ilfb.org/default.asp

Illinois Society of Professional
Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers
http://www.ispfmra.org/index.html

Township Officials of Illinois
http://www.toi.org/

Taxpayer's Federation of Illinois
http://www.taxpayfedil.org/