County Quadrennial Assessments

Quadrennial Year Reassessments for some townships of Washington County are published in The Okawville Times this week. Assessments for other townships are published in the Nashville News.

By state statute, the assessment of all parcels must be published every four years. The Supervisor of Of Assessments office reviews assessments of every parcel during the previous four years to determine if adjustments are needed.

The owners of all 24,725 parcels in Washington County will receive notices of assessment in the mail, whether or not there was a change.  In other years, only owners of tracts with changes in assessment receive a notice.

Supervisor of Assessments Sharon Harre Mewes said that publication and mailing is a large expense for the county. An owner of an oil right that is assessed at only a dollar or two and not produce tax income for the county, generates the same expense for mailing and publication as a tract with a building.

The publication of all assessments provides a transparency, as assessment on all parcels is public information.

Assessment is set at one-third the fair market value of a property, with the exception of farmland, farm buildings, coal and oil.

Assessment on the vast majority of farm ground increased due to the Certified Value of the state, based on productivity, said Mewes.

People have an option to protest their assessments with the County Board Of Review. To do so, the property owner must show evidence, such as an appraisal, construction costs, or structural damage.

Comparisons to other houses are usually difficult  because there are few houses of the same size, architecture, age, lot size, and location, said Mewes.

“I am in complete agreement with real estate owners in Washington County –  our taxes are too high,” said Mewes. “Unfortunately, the State of Illinois mandates our office to value your home or business building at Fair Cash Value. Just coming in to say your taxes are too high isn’t enough. We need evidence of Fair Cash Value that we have on your property isn’t correct.”