Assessment Values To Rise

No one wants to hear it, but the truth, according to Grundy County Assessor Kathy Veatch, is that the county’s property tax assessments are out of compliance with what the state has mandated. What that means is that most property owners will see a higher assessment for 2017 which, depending on tax levy rates, would result in a higher tax bill.
Mrs. Veatch said when she began her first term in 2013, the county’s assessment to sales ratio was out of compliance, but she was able to negotiate a deal with the state and do some things without raising values. Now, with the state statute indicating that the values must be between 90 and 110 percent of the sales ratio and the county at 81.6 percent, she has no choice but to increase assessment values.
The purpose of reassessing property is to re-evaluate and reflect all of the changes that have occurred in the property. When a property is sold at a certain price agreed upon by the buyer and seller, the assessment value of the property should be within 90 to 110 percent of that price. It’s important that assessment values are correct because not only does it provide a small amount of revenue to the county based on the number of parcels, but school funding is affected.
“I don’t want to do anything that’s going to keep our schools from getting the money they should,” Mrs. Veatch commented, noting that there has not been an adjustment like this since 2003.
A complete reassessment of the county has been done and new values put in place. All values are likely to change, but not all properties will change in the same amount due to some properties being in worse shape and losing value. Mrs. Veatch said all depreciation values, based on the year the structure was built, have been re-set.
New construction letters will be sent between May 1 and June 1 and at that time property owners whose assessment values have increased will be notified if there is more than a $500 change in the assessment, which would be an increase of around $35 in taxes. She noted that the possible closing of ConAgra has already had an effect on home prices and she will need to look at them before she closes the books in July. Mrs. Veatch said that generally when the assessed valuation of an entity goes up, levies go down, since those entities are required to look at projected revenue and base the levy on that.
Mrs. Veatch is sensitive to the fact that no one wants to have their tax bill increased, but said she is willing to talk with property owners about their assessed valuation.
“Everyone is welcome to come in and talk with me at any time,” she said, noting that an appointment would be best in case she is out of the office. “I’ll try to answer any questions I can and if I don’t know something I’ll research it the best I can.”