Each year the assessment change notices are published in the New Lenox Community Reporter. The paper comes out every week on Thursday and it is free and available at most places you buy regular newspapers around town. The notice of assessment change publication usually occurs the third or fourth week of August. The paper is available in the afternoon on that publication date because of the volume the paper does not ordinarily have. The paper is also available at our office. Changes made to your assessment also will generate a notice mailed to you at the address your tax bill goes to. The publication is the official notice, since we have no control over any postal errors. You have 30 days from the date of publication to appeal your assessed value to the Will County Board of Review if you think that it is incorrect. Forms will be available in our office, or you can get them off the Will County website during that time period.

The mailed notice will show the previous years assessed value and the current assessed value and the reason for the change. When the reason says ?Uniformity with comparable properties? that means we revalued the entire area based on sales ratio studies. The state dictates how we are to assess our properties, and provides us with a 3-year sales ratio study to be sure that we are assessing at the state mandated 33.33% of the fair market value. We are fortunate that we have hundreds of sales every year to assist us with determining values throughout the township.

When you receive this notice, or see your property in the publication, that is the time to decide if you agree with our findings. Take the total of your assessed valuation and multiply it by 3. That is your fair market value. If you believe that it is incorrect, we suggest calling our office first so that we can verify the information we have on your property. If you feel that your value is not in line with similar homes in your area, you can call our office with addresses and we can tell you the particulars about the other properties, and basically compare apples to apples. You can also go to the Link to Will County SoA and search parcels by address to get property index numbers (PIN) and check their assessed values. You do have to call our office for square footage and other information of that nature, 815-485-9419. Once again, you also have the right to file a formal written appeal with the Will County Board of Review within the filing time line, which is 30 days from the date of publication.