Duties of the Assessor
The Belvidere Township Assessor is the elected public officer whose duty it is to assign a market value to all property within the township. By means of mass appraisal the assessor determines the amount of tax base, but does not levy (assign) a tax. Separate market values are required for the land and the building portions of the real estate and after determining the total value, the property is assessed at one-third (33.33%) of its market value. Assessing property at a predetermined percentage of market value is called a fractional assessment system. Many states besides Illinois use such an assessment system. The assessor assesses all property as of January 1 of the tax year. Reassessments are mandated by state statute every four years; otherwise known as the Quadrennial Assessment. The Property Tax Code does allow assessors to reassess any and all properties each year when necessary. This annual reassessment is encouraged by The Taxpayers Federation of Illinois and the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO).
Belvidere Township utilizes a Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal system. Consequently, the assessor’s office is able to reassess each property every year. Annual reassessment generates more accurate and more uniform values. It also enables the assessor to react to changes in the real estate marketplace in a timely fashion. Township assessors use many of the same principles, techniques and methodologies as those used by independent fee appraisers with only slight variations to accommodate the uniformity criteria of the United States Constitution and the Illinois Constitution. The ultimate purpose of the assessed value is to apportion the tax burden, as established by the major taxing bodies, over all property in a fair and equitable manner based on the value of the real estate.
The Assessor uses three traditional approaches to value property: the cost approach, the market or sales comparison approach and the income approach. These are the standard methodologies used in the industry and their precise application may be altered slightly based on property type and to accommodate the uniformity requirements.
Variations in the application of the three approaches to value are necessary as the assessor is required to not only assess property at 33.33% of market value, but also to ensure that property is assessed equitably to similar property; this is known as assessment uniformity.
Statistical testing and assessment analysis are integral parts of the mass appraisal process. As a result, assessors rely on statistical measures of central tendency including means, medians and coefficients of dispersion, much more than fee appraisers. These statistical measures are used to gage whether assessors are applying the appropriate percentage of market value and whether the degree of uniformity within the township is within acceptable parameters.
Another major departure from typical independent fee appraisal practice is the “market under study.” The assessor must analyze all the sales for the three year period preceding the assessment date. In contrast, an independent appraiser will generally not use sales that occurred more than 6-9 months from the effective date of appraisal.
