A Message from the Assessor.......

Twenty-four years is a very long time. Over twenty-four years you can raise a child from infancy through college graduation. Over twenty-four years, technology has completely transformed multiple times. In twenty-four years, our real estate market has changed dramatically as well. When I took office in January of 2014, I was shocked to learn there had not been a full township-wide physical reassessment of Milton Township since 1991, twenty-four years ago.

To understand the impact of this, ask yourself: What was the local real estate market like in 1991 compared to where it is today?

It was my promise to you when I became Assessor that I would work to correct the wide discrepancies so many property owners cited in Milton Township. Every four years each township assessor is required by state statute to conduct a township-wide physical reassessment of all properties within his or her jurisdiction. This process is called the general reassessment year.

2015 happens to be a general reassessment year.

My staff and I began by migrating from the old outdated assessing software to a new software assessment database allowing the deputies to achieve greater uniformity, accuracy, and fairness in the assessing process. Within that framework, we undertook the first township-wide physical reassessment of Milton Township in twenty-four years.

In a general reassessment, each Assessor’s office is required by Illinois State Statutes to assess properties at one-third of fair market value as of January 1 of each assessment year. We are required by state law to reassess using sales occurring during the three years prior to the general reassessment year.

In-between general reassessment years, each Township receives an annual equalization factor from the county and state to keep pace with the market. However, if property values are only factored every year without an actual township-wide physical reassessment, values become inequitable. This results in some property owners not paying their fair share of the tax burden, while others are paying more of the tax burden than they should. As a result of this, the general reassessment year was instituted in order to ensure your values are continuously and accurately maintained.

We all know the real estate market in Illinois has been turbulent and volatile over the past six years. In our 2015 general reassessment, we have worked diligently to establish fairer, more accurate, and more uniform assessments in each neighborhood throughout Milton Township. In some cases, this meant assessments may have significantly increased or decreased, while others remained level.

When you receive your 2015 Notice of Reassessment, we ask you to help us maintain this new beginning:

1. Contact us if you do not understand your valuation. We will explain the process we went through formulating your property assessment as well as your neighborhood’s property reassessment.
2. If you believe we missed something important affecting your property assessment, please have that information or documentation ready when you call or come by the office.
3. If you feel your assessment is incorrect, your first step is to contact us and talk to our staff. You also have the right to file an assessment appeal with the DuPage County Board of Review. Please note that you have only 30 days from the upcoming 2015 general assessment year publication date to file an appeal of your 2015 assessment.
4. The deadline for filing all 2015 assessment appeals will be posted on the front page of our web site as soon as it is available from the County.
5. We will work with you personally to ensure your assessment is accurate and uniform. Keep in mind, due to the high volume of calls and inquiries we receive during a general reassessment year, we may ask you to protect your rights by filing an appeal with the DuPage County Board of Review prior to the appeal deadline. This preserves your right to appeal while allowing us time to examine your evidence and assessment.
6. Remember we do NOT set tax rates nor do we collect your taxes! We only determine the value of your property. Even if your assessment was reduced, your tax bill may still go up if the taxing bodies serving your area increase their tax levies and tax rates. Our office does not have any involvement in those decisions.
7. I thank you in advance for your patience and understanding when contacting our office during this busy time. Wait times are expected to be long, and response times may also be affected.

Further, I promise you, as long as I am Milton Township Assessor, my office is committed to not only assessing all property in a fair and equitable manner, but also to helping each and every property owner respectfully and professionally.

Sincerely,

Chris E. LeVan
Milton Township Assessor

Welcome,

By State Law, the 2015 assessment year is the General Reassessment Year, which mandates that every four years our office must review and reassess all property within our jurisdiction.

It is during this General Reassessment adjustments are made to reflect the current market within Milton Township. My staff will be analyzing sales information from over the past three years and adjusting assessments as needed, per Illinois State Statutes.

Our office is required to follow the State Property Tax Code (35 ILCS 200/1-1, et seq.) and the applicable regulations provided in the Illinois Administrative Code. As the Milton Township Assessor, I am responsible for establishing fair and accurate property assessments. By statute, valuation of the Township’s 41 thousand parcels of property is conducted for ad valorem tax purposes. Ad valorem means according to value, and refers to the amount of taxes which will be required to be paid based on the value of the property. The value of these properties is not determined on an individual basis, but rather by a mass appraisal system. The mass appraisal system establishes equity and fairness in the assessment process.

The overall amount of real estate taxes collected is determined, not by our office, but by all of the local taxing bodies providing services to our community. Because the assessed valuation of your property does determine your share of those taxes, it is very important to be aware of any proposed increases in spending by our local governments.

Our office's public service responsibilities are not limited to setting property values. We also support and help Township residents to better understand the assessment process and take advantage of money-saving exemptions that are available to property owners in Milton Township. 

Please feel free to contact me or any one of my Deputy Assessors with any questions you might have. We welcome you to come visit our office, or call us at 630-653-5220. You can also email us at [email protected], or visit our web site at www.miltonassessor.com.

Sincerely,

Chris E. LeVan
Milton Township Assessor