Beginning in 2008, our area saw four years of volatile and declining home values. In 2014 and continuing in 2020, the real estate market in northern Illinois began to rebound.
But despite property values starting to increase over the past few years, we still have a ways to go. Yet even with the lower values, we still see our property taxes increasing. This is a very challenging concept for property owners to understand.
2019 was our General Reassessment Year (also known as the Quadrennial), which occurs every four years as mandated by State law. For the 2019 General Reassessment Year,, all properties were reviewed and reassessed for market value and uniformity. Our previous General Reassessment Year was 2015.
As the Assessor, I'm responsible for assessing property at one-third of the fair market value. Properties are valued as of January 1st of each year based upon the three prior years' sales. However, the county and the state monitor assessor values so that values throughout the county and state are equitably assessed. The formulas that are used to measure our accuracy and equity always include consideration of actual sales over a three-year period as required by State law.
Therefore, when our office valued properties as of January 1st, 2021 for the 2021 Assessment Year (which is the assessment that your tax bill payable in 2022 is based upon), we were obligated by law to look back at the sales that took place during 2018, 2019 and 2020.
We are not permitted to just look at the marketplace that existed on January 1st, 2021.
At the bottom of this page is a chart that illustrates Residential sales activity in Bloomingdale Township from 2015 through 2020, using sales
ranges beginning with the lowest single-family Residential property sale and ending with the highest single-family Residential property sale. Back in 2008, we experienced the first real decline in the sales range of homes in decades, a trend that continued through 2013 (though we did see sales prices trending back upward in 2015-2020). Much of this drop in value has taken the form of compulsory sales, property transfers that typically take place in distressed circumstances. In the past, State statute prohibited Assessors from considering these sales for property assessment purposes, but now those circumstances have changed.
A recent and historic change in State law is removing that prohibition. Thanks to Public Act 096-1083, the State of Illinois changed the criteria for usable sales. Our office can now consider certain compulsory sales as part of the assessment process, and taxpayers may also submit compulsory sales in their assessment appeals as long as they meet the State's new criteria. This includes using bank-owned sales, sales resulting from foreclosure proceedings, and "short" sales. Note, however, that under the new State law there are a number of specific categories of sales that are still excluded, such as related sales, sales of partial interest, Quit-Claim deeds, Sheriff's deeds, transfers of properties not advertised for sale, et al.
We believe this was a positive change that benefits the taxpayer, allowing us to develop assessments that more accurately reflect the current troubled market.
Integrating this historic change is an ongoing process. The State Legislature is working to further remove statutory barriers to using compulsory sales in our assessment process, and allow us to make our assessments more closely reflect the current real estate market.
Most importantly, regardless of what happens in the marketplace, everyone should keep one fact in mind: even when assessments are reduced this does not automatically mean that property taxes will go down. Please remember that your property taxes are generated by your area's local tax levies which pay for your local services, such as schools, parks, fire protection, and others.
Another game-changer as of last year is COVID-19. We have been getting calls saying how COVID-19 is affecting the economy, which is definitely true. However, at this point, I can say looking at the 2020 sales, we see little to no negative impact on the Residential market values so far. If anything, the market is still strong.
We will continue to monitor the sales activity in our Township for the current assessment year, 2021. Based on the market, we will calculate assessments as of Jan. 1, 2021, as measured over a three-year period (2018, 2019, 2020) as required by State law. We closed our books for the 2021 assessment year and turned them into the County in early July. The 2021 assessment appeal process began July 23, 2021 an ends August 23, 2021. Keep in mind you are appealing the assessed value of your property, not the taxes.
NOTE: The Senior Assessment Freeze Exemption requirements have been changed by the Illinois Legislature: the new maximum household income allowed is $65,000. For more details, click this link: Senior Assessment Freeze Exemption
