Normal Township needs a new assessor. Longtime Assessor Rob Cranston died recently after a long illness, and the elected office is temporarily vacant.
Township Supervisor Jess Ray said the township is taking applications though there are eligibility requirements.
“The candidate must reside in Normal Township, meet the minimum education requirements for a larger assessment jurisdiction, and be a member of the Republican Party,” said Ray.
Letters of interest that include evidence of compliance with education requirements must be postmarked by 4 p.m. Dec. 14.
It can be a complex job.
“The state legislature has determined that the property tax burden be apportioned or spread over all the taxpayers based solely on the market value of the property that they own within the jurisdiction or in our case, Normal Township. That is the primary responsibility of the Assessor’s Office – to discover, list, and value all property. Our principal goal is to work with you, the taxpayer, to accurately and fairly assess your property,” the assessor’s office wrote on its website.
Normal Township has significant residential and business property, so the Illinois Department of Revenue requirements to be an assessor are higher than in townships that have smaller total property values and less variety of properties. Qualifications include professional designations from one of several credentialling bodies such as the Appraisal Institute, the National Association of Independent Fee Appraisers, or the American Society of Appraisers. There are continuing education requirements once an assessor meets the initial standards.
If there are no qualified candidates who apply, Ray said the state allows townships to hire professional services until the next election can produce a new office holder.
The vacancy is happening just as Normal Township enters the final phase of appeals of new annual assessments. There are 16 hearings scheduled for Wednesday before McLean County Board of Review. Fifteen of those involve business property, and one is an appeal of an increase on a residential property, said Deputy Assessor Kent DePew. Property owners can challenge an increased assessment if they believe there are reasons the market value is assessed too high. The McLean County Supervisor of Assessments said Tuesday that 328 appeals were filed this year for farm, residential, commercial, and industrial property in the township. The numbers include taxpayer complaints, assessor actions, and actions submitted by the assessor's office.
Owners of particularly valuable property sometimes negotiate a settled outcome after an initial appeal rather than contesting a valuation in a lengthy and often costly process before the state Property Tax Appeals Board (PTAB). Taxing bodies such as school districts are sometimes involved in those negotiations. Assessed values in Normal Township rose an average of 10.69% this year, as part of a multi-year increase in the housing market.
The City of Bloomington Township deadline to file appeals came Monday. Normal’s was Oct. 2, so Normal Township is further along in the hearing process.
Depew said Cranston took care of a lot of the work until just a few days before he died.
“He did some of the appeals himself early on. I think he handled the stuff he wanted to handle,” said DePew.
Depew and staff member Linda Adams have stepped up since then.
“We’ve been hitting the board of review stuff hard and heavy just to get information to the board. We have to have stuff in five days before the hearing date,” said DePew.
Depew said workers are sad for Cranston and his family but said at least he is no longer in pain.
