Cuba Township property assessments bumped up

Residents in Cuba Township could be in for some sticker shock when they open up property tax reassessment notice mailed out this week.

Cuba Township Assessor Rebecca Tonigan said new assessments of all parcels in the township found a number significantly undervalued. Those, she said, are being increased to reflect the current market value.

"We are just trying to make it fair and equitable for everyone in the township," Tonigan said.

Of the 8,500 parcels in the township, 250 of them -- both residential and commercial properties -- will see assessment increases of about 30 percent, Tonigan said.

That should result in significantly higher property tax bills, since assessments are used by local taxing bodies to calculate how the tax burden is distributed among all property owners.

Cuba Township includes Lake Barrington, North Barrington, Tower Lakes and portions of Barrington, Barrington Hills, Fox River Grove and Cary, as well as unincorporated areas.

This is the first quadrennial assessment for Tonigan since coming into office in 2004, so she stresses that she inherited the problem of under-assessed properties.

All Lake County properties are reassessed every four years to revalue property based on the past three years' sales activity.

Tonigan's main objective after coming into office was to modernized Cuba Township's assessment system.

To do that, she switched the township to the same computer-based appraisal program used by the Lake County assessor's office, which is more comprehensive and allows for better record keeping. Cuba Township is one of 17 out of 18 townships in Lake County that use this system.

"It is a more efficient way of doing record keeping and looking at historical assessments," said Jessica Brady, a township spokeswoman.

This reassessment, Brady said, also looked at every parcel in the township and not just those recently sold.

"This was a way to shake the cobwebs off," Brady said.

Lake County Assessor Marty Paulson said the township's decision to move to the appraisal program used by the county was a good one.

It brings some much-needed consistency to the reassessment process, Paulson said.

Tonigan said property owners who believe they've been over-assessed have until Oct. 15 to appeal.

The first step is to use the Lake County Web site, www.co.lake.il.us, to ensure all the information on the property, such as square footage, is correct.

If not, Tonigan said, owners can call the township, which will send someone out to personally check the property.

"We are happy to do that for anybody," she said.

Tonigan also encouraged property owners to use the Lake County Web site to check properties similar to theirs see if the assessments are on par with each other.

If the comparisons aren't equal, an appeal can be filed at the township office, 28000 W. Cuba Road in Barrington.

Further appeals can also be filed with the Lake County Board of Review, the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, and finally circuit court.

Tonigan will also be hosting a public forum to explain the process and answer questions at 7 p.m. Sept. 26 at the Barrington Area Library.

For more information on the assessment process, visit www.co.lake.il.us, link to Cuba Township through property assessments, then township assessors.