Assessor

Your taxes may be higher than they were last year for any or all of four general reasons:

• You may not be receiving all of the homestead exemptions for which your property is eligible.
• Other properties in your area may qualify for one or more exemptions for which you are not eligible.
• The local governments (such as municipalities and schools) in your area may have approved a higher tax levy than last year.
• The rate of value change can vary, even in the same neighborhood. If your property’s value change was higher than the average in your area, your relative tax burden will be greater than it was last year. If your property’s value change was lower than the average change in your area, your relative tax burden will be less than it was last year.

The largest portion goes to the schools; the remaining portions go to the other local governments in the County.

No. Each local government makes this decision independently; Brown County has no authority to issue any property tax levy but its own.

Visit Brown County Property Tax Inquiry.  You can search for your property by tax parcel number, address, or owner name. Once you are at your record, you can see how much property tax you pay to each taxing body that levies against your property. By changing the year, you can see this data all the way back to 2002.

For most non-farm property, the Township Assessor estimates the fair cash value, and then develops an assessed value based on 33.33% of that fair cash value of the property as of January 1 of the assessment year, based on the three prior years of sales. The Supervisor of Assessments then equalizes all assessments to provide for uniform valuations in the County. ​

Under the state property tax code, the assessment of farmland is based on its agricultural economic value, not its fair cash value. In other words, farmland located in the Chicago metropolitan area is valued the same way that farmland in rural areas of southern Illinois is valued. Major factors in farmland valuation include soil productivity, crop prices, and farm loan interest rates.

Residential Property Assessment Complaint Form
Farm Property Assessment Complaint Form

If you wish to formally contest your assessment, you can file a complaint with the Brown County Board of Review within 30 days of your assessment notice being published in the Brown County Democrat Message.

There are generally three bases for appealing an assessment:

• Discrepancy in Physical Data (“The property records show I have a 2,400-square-foot house, but my survey shows I have only 2,200 square feet.”)
• Valuation (“The equalized assessed value is greater than 1/3 of my property’s fair cash value”).
• Equity (“My equalized assessed value is greater than comparable properties in my neighborhood.”)
  Please note that the state Property Tax Appeal Board has consistently ruled that the amount of taxes paid or the percentage of change in value from one year to the next is not a valid basis for an appeal.

By state law, assessment complaints for a township may be filed up to 30 days after a reassessment notice is published in a local newspaper.

Yes, it is too late unless you have already taken your complaint to the Board of Review for that taxable year.

You have the right to inspect the township assessor’s records, which contain assessed values as well as other information.  You may inspect the records for any parcel of property, as well as the records for your own property, subject to reasonable regulations set forth by local officials.

By state law, notices of all assessment changes are published in a local newspaper. Also, if the Township Assessor changes your assessment, the County Supervisor of Assessments will mail you an additional notice via U.S. Mail sent to the same address where your tax bill is sent.

Call the County Assessment Office to verify that you are receiving the exemptions for which you qualify. If you have questions about the rate charged by a specific taxing body, we suggest that you contact that taxing body.

Your PIN is on your property tax bill or on your assessment notice. You can also get your PIN by contacting your township assessor, the County Assessment Office, or searching by name or address at Brown County Property Tax Website.

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