Yes.  The Assessor’s job is to bring the property to the current market value, regardless of percentage of increase.  The change in the market is what drives the change in assessment.

You may file an appeal at any time, but depending on where the Supervisor of Assessments Office is in their cycle will determine when it will be reviewed, as the deadline for appeals can change.  Each year, when the assessor finishes his/her work, re-assessment notices are sent out.  At that time, a 30-day window opens for filing an appeal, and all appeals must be submitted during business hours, or postmarked by, that deadline date.  You can always check with the assessment office to determine an appeal deadline.

Farmland per acre values are presented to the Supervisor of Assessment Office by the Department of Revenue.  Per acre values are determined largely by soil type and land usage.  The only thing that the assessor has control over is the land usage.  Check the County Website to see if your land usage appears to be correct.  Farmland is NOT valued at market value, so your assessment cannot be converted into any type of market value.

For approximately 40 years, Edgar County has followed a 240 square foot policy.  This means that any structure 240 square feet, or larger, is added to the assessment roll.  There can be structures smaller than 240 square feet assessed, if they are permanently attached to the ground.  The 240 square foot structures in Edgar County are typically metal sheds and carports.

A multitude of “amenities” are used to derive an assessment.  For a home, the square footage, number of floors, the construction type, age, effective age, number of bathrooms, basement area, if any, exterior features such as porches, and garages, are just a few amenities that are considered.  Quality, condition, depreciation also are factors considered.  It is recommended that you request your property record from the Supervisor of Assessment Office to determine the accuracy of your amenities.

There are multiple exemptions available to taxpayers.  There is the general homestead exemption (OOE), senior exemptions, disability exemptions, and veteran exemptions.  See the County Website or call the Supervisor of Assessments Office for a more detailed explanation of requirements and benefits.

A Homestead Improvement Exemption is for improvements you’ve done to an existing structure such as a garage, deck, or patio.  Your township assessor will file an application on your behalf.  The exemption lasts for four years, and on the fifth year the taxpayer begins paying taxes on the improvement.  As a courtesy, the Supervisor of Assessments Office will notify you that you will see a difference in your tax bill, prior to the bills being mailed out.

By law, for taxing purposes, property must be revalued every four years.  Edgar County is divided into four sections, or quads.  Each year, one of those quads is re-assessed, allowing for all properties to be revalued every four years – a Quadrennial Re-assessment.

The Supervisor of Assessments office monitors sales all year long.  By law, assessments should be at 33.33% of market value.  At the end of the year, when sales versus assessments are calculated, if a particular township is not in line with the 33.33% requirement, individual township factors are applied.  Using the township method allows values to be reviewed in more defined areas versus county wide.  Once a factor is applied, it becomes your new assessment permanently.

A State multiplier is issued after all assessments have been completed, and the sales analysis is reviewed by the Department of Revenue.  If they determine that that the assessed values are too high or too low, they issue a State Multiplier.  This is applied county-wide, and only appears on your tax bill.  The State Multiplier does not apply to the following year.

This is a tough question to answer.  When an Equalized Assessed Value (EAV) increases, if the taxing body doesn’t ask for an increase, or asks for a small increase, the bigger EAV can absorb the levy request increases, and theoretically, the tax rates would be lower.  The end result falls on the levy requests from the taxing bodies.

An assessor will review your house every four years and will view it with the knowledge of what the property would bring in the current market.  Oftentimes, what properties are selling for in the current market is extremely different than what they were selling for just 4 years ago.  The law provides that property should be revalued every 4 years at the CURRENT market value.

Oftentimes there is a reason why an individual property may be looked at in between quadrennial reassessments.  If that particular property is re-assessed, it may be closer to market value than surrounding properties when the next quadrennial comes due.  Therefore, that property may not see as much percent of an increase as others.

Most likely because your assessment did not change.  If your township was not under a quadrennial re-assessment, and you have no farmland, your assessment may not have changed, thus not requiring an assessment change notice.  You can always check with the Supervisor of Assessments office to see if you had a change, or should have received a notice.