I just got notice in my Chicagoland suburbs for the triennial assessment, that my assessed valuation is going up 30%
An interesting number to be sure. But completely worthless for predicting taxes since you don’t know the other parts of the equation.
There are only three things you need to ask yourself about an assessed valuation.
1. Is it right?
2. Is it wrong?
3. Do I even know if it’s right or wrong?
If it’s right, it’s right. No action required. We hope that the budget stays the same or goes down, and the mill levy is reduced to bring in the same amount, or an amount that doesn’t result in a significant increase in actual taxes. Taxes very often go down even with increased values. But nobody ever remembers that. They always remember tax increases.
If it’s wrong, you should probably do something. This usually starts with a call to the appropriate taxing jurisdiction to find out the process to getting it adjusted.Often this is pretty simple and doesn't require a formal appeal.
If you don’t know, you should find out. Often the best bet is to call the taxing jurisdiction and just ask to see whatever evidence they might have supporting their valuation. Realtors and services like Zillow can also be handy in figuring this out too. HINT: If there is any chance it may be lower than market, check that out to be sure BEFORE you call the taxing authorities. We don’t want to wake up any sleeping dogs if its low.
IMPORTANT: All appraisals of any kind must specify the date of the valuation. Since markets are always changing, their valuation, and any evidence you might uncover, must be adjusted to that same date. This goes by many names, but is always a date specified by law for your assessment.