Lake Villa 2009 Equalization Factor

The 2009 equalization factor for Lake Villa Township is 1.0306.  This factor is applied to all non-farm parcels in the Township.  It does not mean your taxes are going up 3.06%.  The factor is used to adjust assessments to 33-1/3% of market value the state mandated level of assessment.

The Illinois Department of Revenue completes a three years sales ratio study for the sales occurring in 2006, 2007, and 2008.  The yearly assessment to sales ratios are 32.20%, 32.12% and 34.43% respectively.   The 3 year level of assessment is 32.78% below the state required 33-1/3%. 

The tentative factor computed before my office began our work this year was 1.0167.  The final factor actually increased.  This is due to the changes made by my office.  There were revaluations completed in neighborhoods where assessment decreased.  The decrease in valuation township wide has an inverse affect to the factor.

Another influence upon the equalization factor are the sales utilized by the State.  Foreclosure sales, short sales or bank owned sales are not included in the State’s studies.  These sales are deemed not to be arms-length, fair market transactions.  By excluding these sales the State may not be capturing the downward trend in the market.  On the other hand my office includes sales that have been exposed to the market, advertized for sale to any willing buyer.

The factors and sale ratio statics are published on the Lake County web site.  The link is below:

http://www.lakecountyil.gov/Assessor/AssessmentInformation/EqualizationFactors.htm

Still it is difficult to understand why assessments would be increasing while the market is going in the opposite direction.  In part it is due to the use of the 3 year sales ratio process.  While it does even out the spikes and dips in the yearly market fluctuation, it does not react fast enough especially in down market.  There is an “assessment lag” or simply put, the value on your assessment is not a reflection of current market value.

There is more discussion of the equalization factor and the difference between assessor’s market value and current market value found on this web site.

What is the Equalization Factor
Assessed vs Current Market Value