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County assessor proposes $10-per-parcel fee as township assessor vacancies grow
Summary
Iroquois County assessor told the Tax Planning and Zoning Committee she will propose charging $10 per parcel to cover assessment services for townships that lack an assessor, citing multiple vacancies and the potential cost of hiring staff if townships decline intergovernmental agreements.
Brianne, the county assessor, told the Iroquois County Tax Planning and Zoning Committee on March 4 that she will propose charging $10 per parcel to townships that do not retain a township assessor and instead rely on the county.
The proposal, she said, is intended to cover the county’s cost of performing township assessor duties if townships decline to enter intergovernmental agreements (IGAs). "I will be presenting with this committee's approval, ICAs at $10 a parcel," Brianne said. She gave an example for a multi-township parcel count of 2,867, which at $10 per parcel would be $28,670 compared with a current budgeted amount of $12,000.
The nut graf: the assessor’s office is already stretched by vacancies and by procedural work that a township assessor would normally perform. Committee members pressed for clarity on how the county would collect payment if a township refused to sign an IGA and on what it would cost the county to hire staff to do the work.
Brianne told the committee several townships currently lack an assessor, naming Artesia, Onarga, Ridgeland, Walton, Belmont, Douglas and Middleport as vacancies. She said one township (Biberhill/Papanoff) already has an IGA in place and had pre-paid for the year. She also said Fulton County charges much higher per-parcel rates — "like $37 per parcel for residential, $62 per farm and commercial" — because of travel and added mileage costs.
Committee members asked about state consequences for missing scheduled revaluations. Brianne described the county’s coefficient of dispersion (COD) as a local performance metric and said the county’s COD was 47.92. "If those numbers continue to rise ... the state could mandate you to revalue the whole county at your cost," she said, but she also noted she did not know the exact threshold that would trigger state intervention.
Brianne said hiring a staffer to do the additional work would be costly: after consulting with county finance, she estimated roughly $50,000 in salary plus benefits for a new hire. She also asked the committee whether members could help recruit qualified township assessors and suggested board members might attend township meetings to discuss recruitment and pay.
The assessor also reported other office updates: one PTAB appeal filed for a residential property in Ashkum; a new GIS website is live; she recommended placing $100,000 of GIS special-fund money into an interest-bearing account.
Ending: The committee agreed to follow up. Brianne said she would consult the state's attorney about options if a township refused an IGA and would return with more details on collection or legal remedies. "I guess I might have to talk to the state's attorney and find out, you know, what happens if they don't sign an IGA. We do the work. How how do we get paid?" she said.
