Assessor, REBECCA M. TONIGAN

The Cuba Township Assessor’s Office recently completed its Quadrennial Reassessment of commercial and residential

property. This evaluation occurs in all Lake County townships every four years in order to revalue property based on the past three years’ sales activity. Property assessments are used to fairly calculate how much each property owner contributes for taxes each year.  

 

During the assessment process of more than 8,500 properties, we discovered that many homes in the township are profoundly under assessed and do not accurately reflect current market value.   There were other instances where we found that homes have been over assessed.  We have spent the past several weeks finalizing our reports and submitting them to the Lake County Assessor’s Office to ensure uniformity and equality in the assessed value of homes in Cuba Township.  

 

You might be questioning why this is happening now.  There are two very good reasons.  As you may be aware, before a resident is allowed to build an addition or major renovation, they are required to obtain a permit from the county or local municipality.  In turn, the township will reassess the home value upon completion of construction.  There has been an influx of construction that has failed to go through the proper permitting process.  As a result, we are working diligently to

reassess homes that have been improved so that all residents in Cuba Township are taxed fairly.  Homes that have had additions or major renovations over the last three years can expect a higher assessment.

 

The second and more significant reason is that the system with which homes were assessed in past years was outdated.  This is the first Quadrennial Reassessment since I was elected assessor. The previous system was antiquated and the

records that were left behind were not easy to access or translate.  We realized we needed to streamline the process and make it more efficient.  That’s when we adopted the same program that Lake County has used successfully for seven years.  Once we began updating information into our modernized system we realized that we inherited a problem.  Because some properties haven’t been assessed in more than a decade, some assessed values were extremely out of line.

 

Currently, tax rates in Cuba Township are among the lowest in the region and we will work to keep these values as low as possible.  I am committed to providing accurate and fair assessed values to every homeowner and business owner in Cuba Township.

 

In the weeks ahead, we will be sending out individualized cards to you, as we do every year, to inform you of your new

 assessment. We will also distribute additional information to make sure area owners are properly informed of the updated assessment program and the exemptions that qualifying owners can take advantage of to keep their assessments down.

 

As the township assessor, I invite you to bring all questions and concerns about this year’s reassessment process to my

office directly. I will also be meeting with residents at the Barrington Area Library, Northwest Hwy, Barrington on September 26, 2007 at 7 pm.  We want to make sure that all inquiries are addressed, and that you become as familiarized with this process as possible. I can be reached at the Township office at (847) 381-1120. 

 

 

 

BARRINGTON GIVING DAY 2007

Each December the Barrington Community invites local disadvantaged families living in the Barrington 220 School District to a Giving Day to receive food, warm coats and gifts. Members of Barrington churches, schools, businesses and civic organizations have always been generous in their support of this day. Last year 616 families were helped.

Financial gifts will be used to used to purchase food, and grocery food certificates, children’s coats, blankets, and essentials for this year’s Giving Day to be held on December.  Checks may be made payable to:

                                                                Barrington Giving Day

                                     c/o John Paul Hills

                                                  Barrington Bank & Trust

                                                 201 S. Hough St.

                                                           Barrington, IL 60010

Volunteers are needed for various tasks throughout December.  If you or members of your organization would like to volunteer to help in this worthy cause, please call Patricia Karon 847-382-2670 or Jeanette Muench, 815-444-1622.

THE CUBA TOWNSHIP OFFICE WILL BE A DROP-OFF LOCATION FOR DONATIONS BEGINNING DECEMBER 3, 2007