Understanding Your Tax Bill (pdf)
Senior Citizen Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption (pdf)
Property Tax Exemption Information (pdf)
General Assessment Years (Quadrennial Years) (pdf)
A Guide to Contacting Your Local Township Assessor (pdf)
What is an Assessment?
An assessment is the property value that is offically entered in the county assessment books (sometimes called the “tax roll”). This value is used to determine what portion of the total tax burden each property owner will bear. Your assessed value is 33.33% of the fair market value of your property.
If I don’t receive a Notice of Revised Assessment, does this mean my assessment didn’t change?
If it is a normal year, then only the assessments that have changed, will receive an assessment notice. If it is a Quadrennial year assessment, then every property will receive a Notice of Revised assessment, whether the assessment has changed or not.
What is Market Value?
Market Value is the amount at which a property would sell in a competitive and open market, presuming that (1) both the buyer and the seller are knowledgeable about the sale and are using sound judgement by allowing sufficient time for the sale and (2) the sale is not affected by under pressures (forclosures, bankruptcy, etc.)
How is Market Value Determined?
One or more of the following three methods is used to determine market value:
1.)Market Data– Similar, neighboring properties that have sold recently are compared to the property being assessed.
2.)Cost– The cost to reproduce (or rebuild) the property is calculated, the amount for depreciation (wear and tear, age) is subtracted, and land value is then added.
3.)Income-The present worth of the income from an income-producing property is calculated by measuring the amount, quantity, and durability of the future net income the property can be expected to return to an investor.
How can I tell if my assessor has placed a fair value on my property?
The first method is to compare the fair market value of your property with recent sales of similar properties in your neighborhood. This method is appropriate if you have recently purchased your property or have obtained a professional appraisal based on assessment purposes. The second method is to compare the assessed value of your property with similar properties in your neighborhood. You can get this information from your township assessor or the supervisor of assessments office.
Do Forclosures in my neighborhood affect my property taxes?
Forclosures can cause the residential equalized assessed valuation to fall, leaving you to bear the tax burden of your bygone neighbors.
Getting a Rough Estimated Tax Bill:
Assessed Value minus $6,000(starting for 2009) homestead exemption (if your principal residence) x Tax Rate= Estimated Tax Bill Amount.
Example:
Assessed Value (120,000) minus Homestead Exemption (6,000) x Tax Rate (varies in different part of the township)=Tax Bill Amount.
*When using this formula it will be an estimate, due to using last year’s tax rate. Permanent tax rates don’t come out until approximately 2 weeks before the tax bills are printed.
Our Boundries
To the North: 87th Street
To the South: 135th Street
To the East: Kings Rd.
To the West: Heggs Rd.
FAQ’s