Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 38, September 20, 2024
a) Pre-election and Pre-appointment
Qualifications as Set Forth in Section 2-45 of the Property Tax Code
[35
ILCS 200/2-45] .
No person may file or have filed on his or her behalf
nominating papers, or be a candidate in any caucus or primary or general
election, for the office of township or multi-township assessor unless that
person meets the appropriate qualifications specified in subsection (a)(1),
(a)(2), or (a)(3) and has filed a copy of the certificate of those
qualifications with the township clerk, board of election commissioners or
other appropriate election authority. No person may be appointed to fill a
vacancy in the office of township or multi-township assessor unless that person
meets the appropriate qualifications specified in subsections (a)(1) and (a)(2)
and has filed a copy of the certificate of those qualifications with the
appropriate appointing authority. Pursuant to Section 2-45(e) of the Property
Tax Code [35
ILCS 200/2-45(e)] , if any person
files nominating papers for the office of township or multi-township assessor
without also filing a copy of the certificate of qualifications, the township
clerk, board of election commissioners or other appropriate election authority
shall not certify the name of that person as a candidate to the proper election
officials. The certificate of qualifications shall be a document or documents
from the Department under subsection (a)(2)(A) or the designating association
listed under subsection (a)(2)(B) that confirms the person has received the
designation and is in compliance with current continuing education
requirements.
1) Beginning December 1,
1996, in a township or multi-township assessment district not subject to
subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3), the person at a minimum shall have passed an
introductory course in assessment practices approved by the Department or shall
have one of the qualifications listed in subsection (a)(2)(A) or (a)(2)(B). Any
such person who has successfully completed, prior to January 1, 1997, the Basic
Course (currently designated "B-100") conducted by the Illinois Property
Assessment Institute shall be considered to have passed an introductory course
in assessment practices approved by the Department as required by this
subsection (a)(1).
2) Beginning
December 1, 1996, in a township or multi-township assessment district with
$25,000,000 or more of non-farm equalized assessed value or $1,000,000 or more
of commercial and industrial equalized assessed value, the person shall have at
least one of the following qualifications:
A)
A Certified Illinois Assessing Officer (CIAO) certificate from the Illinois
Property Assessment Institute conferred:
i) in
the year of the election, appointment, or participation as a
candidate;
ii) in the year before
the year of the election, appointment, or participation as a
candidate;
iii) prior to the year
before the year of the election, appointment, or participation as a candidate,
plus current additional 30 class hours approved by the Department as required
in Section 4-10 of the Property Tax Code [35
ILCS 200/4-10] ;
iv) prior to the year before the year of the
election, appointment, or participation as a candidate, plus a minimum of 300
additional hours of successfully completed courses approved by the Department
(150 hours of which must have been courses with written examinations), plus
successful completion of 15 class hours of additional training in courses
approved by the Department within the four years preceding the election,
appointment, or participation as a candidate; or
v) prior to the year before the year of
election, appointment, or participation as a candidate, plus a minimum of 360
additional hours of successfully completed courses approved by the Department
(180 hours of which must have been courses with written examinations), provided
the person has served as a township or multi-township assessor for a total of
12 years or more;
B) One
of the following designations along with current continuing education
requirements as prescribed by the designating association:
i) designation by the International
Association of Assessing Officers as a Residential Evaluation Specialist (RES)
or Certified Assessment Evaluator (CAE);
ii) designation by the Appraisal Institute or
its predecessor organizations as a Residential Member (RM), Member of the
Appraisal Institute (MAI), Senior Real Estate Analyst (SREA), Senior
Residential Analyst (SRA) or Senior Real Property Appraiser (SRPA);
iii) designation by the National Association
of Independent Fee Appraisers as a Member (IFA), Senior Member (IFAS) or
Appraiser-Counselor (IFAC);
iv)
designation by the American Society of Appraisers as a Member (ASA);
or
v) a professional designation
approved by the Department from any other appraisal or assessing association
that is substantially similar to those organizations described in subsection
(a)(2)(B)(i)-(iv) in terms of required number of hours, course content,
examination requirements, demonstration appraisal requirements and continuing
education guidelines.
3) Beginning December 1, 2000, in a township
or multi-township assessment district with more than $10,000,000 and less than
$25,000,000 of non-farm equalized assessed value and less than $1,000,000 in
commercial and industrial equalized assessed value, a person who has previously
been elected as assessor or multi-township assessor in such township or
multi-township assessment district shall have one of the qualifications listed
in subsection (a)(2)(A) or (a)(2)(B).
b) For purposes of this Section, these terms
are defined as follows:
1) "non-farm
equalized assessed value" means the total equalized assessed value in the
township or multi-township assessment district as reported to the Department
under Section 18-255 of the Property Tax Code [35 ILCS
200/18-255] after removal of homestead exemptions and
after removal of the equalized assessed value reported to the Department as
farm or minerals under Section 18-255;
2) "current" means for the year of the
election, appointment, or participation as a candidate, or the year prior to
the year of the election, appointment, or participation as a candidate, as is
appropriate in a particular factual situation;
3) "year" means calendar year;
4) "participation as a candidate" means the
filing of nominating papers by a person or having nominating papers filed on
his or her behalf or being a candidate in any caucus or primary or general
election for the office of township or multi-township assessor. A person who is
a candidate in any caucus must file a copy of his or her certificate of
qualifications with the township clerk prior to the date of the caucus. If a
person has been a candidate in any caucus and did not file a copy of his or her
certificate of qualifications with the township clerk prior to the date of the
caucus and also at the time of filing nomination papers, then the township
clerk shall not certify the name of that person as a candidate to the proper
election officials. (See
35
ILCS 200/2-45(e).)
c) Certification of Pre-election
and Pre-appointment Requirements by the Department
1) By February 1 of each year before the year
of election of township or multi-township assessors, the Department shall
certify to each township or multi-township clerk and each county clerk the
pre-election requirements for the office of township or multi-township assessor
in each township or multi-township assessment district using the equalized
assessed valuation for the most recent year for which all counties have
completed filing of reports to the Department under Section 18-255 of the
Property Tax Code [35 ILCS 200/18-255].
2) Within 30 days after the required
statutory notice of either the formation of a new multi-township assessment
district under Section 2-15 of the Property Tax Code [35
ILCS 200/2-15] or the disconnection of a township
from a multi-township assessment district under Section 2-35 of the Property
Tax Code [35 ILCS
200/2-35] , the Department shall certify to the county
clerk and the clerks of either the newly formed multi-township assessment
district or of the disconnected township and the remaining multi-township
assessment district the requirements for the office of township or
multi-township assessor in each resulting township or multi-township assessment
district using the equalized assessed valuation for the most recent year for
which all counties have completed filing of reports to the Department under
Section 18-255 of the Property Tax Code [35 ILCS
200/18-255] .
d) Revision of Township and Multi-township
Assessor Qualifications by the Department
1)
A township board of trustees in a township assessment district or
multi-township board of trustees in a multi-township assessment district, upon
approval by the board, may petition the Department in writing to revise the
qualifications for the office of township or multi-township assessor within the
board's jurisdiction pursuant to Section 2-52 of the Property Tax Code
[35 ILCS
200/2-52] .
2) When a certification is made by the
Department in accordance with subsection (c)(1), the township or multi-township
board of trustees requesting a revision of qualifications shall file the
petition with the Department between the date the Department certifies the
requirements and April 1 of the year before the year of an election. The
Department shall not consider a petition received after April 1 of the year
before the year of an election, receipt of which shall be evidenced by the
postmark on a metered or posted petition, the date-stamp of receipt on a
hand-delivered petition, and the transmission date confirming receipt of a
facsimile. The Department shall return any petition filed after this deadline
to the petitioning board. If a petition is received after a deadline or if a
petition was not received by the Department, the burden of proof that the
petition was timely filed with the Department shall be upon the petitioning
board.
3) In requesting a revision
of qualifications, when there is a voluntary formation of a multi-township
assessment district under Section 2-15 of the Property Tax Code [35 ILCS
200/2-15] or a disconnection under Section 2-35 of the Property Tax Code
[35 ILCS
200/2-35] , the township or multi-township board of
trustees of either the newly formed multi-township assessment district or of
the disconnected township and the remaining multi-township assessment district
shall file the petition within 30 days after the Department's certification in
subsection (c)(2). The Department shall not consider a petition received more
than 30 days after the certification under subsection (c)(2), receipt of which
shall be evidenced by the postmark on a metered or posted petition, the
date-stamp of receipt on a hand-delivered petition, and the transmission date
confirming receipt of a facsimile. The Department shall return any petition
filed after this deadline to the petitioning board. If a petition is received
after a deadline or if a petition was not received by the Department, the
burden of proof that the petition was timely filed with the Department shall be
upon the petitioning board.
4) All
supporting documentation and arguments shall be submitted with the petition,
and the Department may request additional information from the petitioning
board. The petition shall include each of the following:
A) The name and county of the township or
multi-township assessment district.
B) The mailing address of the township or
multi-township board of trustees.
C) The name and mailing address of the
township or multi-township clerk.
D) The date the township or multi-township
board of trustees approved the petition to request that the Department revise
the qualifications for the office of township or multi-township
assessor.
E) The non-farm equalized
assessed value in the township or multi-township assessment district that was
used as the basis for certifying the pre-election and pre-appointment
requirements for the office of township or multi-township assessor under
Section 2-45 of the Property Tax Code [35 ILCS 200/2-45 ].
F) The commercial and industrial equalized
assessed value in the township or multi-township assessment district that was
used as the basis for certifying the pre-election and pre-appointment
requirements for the office of township or multi-township assessor under
Section 2-45 of the Property Tax Code [35
ILCS 200/2-45] .
G) A statement that the township or
multi-township board of trustees requests the qualifications for the office of
township or multi-township assessor be revised from those required in
subsection (a)(2) or (a)(3) to those required in subsection (a)(1).
H) A detailed statement in support of the
request for revision of assessor qualifications. The statement shall include
information on the quantity and complexity of assessments within the township
or multi-township assessment district. The statement may include, but is not
limited to:
i) evidence that values in the
assessment district are different from the values used as the basis for
certifying the pre-election and pre-appointment requirements for township or
multi-township assessor;
ii)
descriptions of the number, characteristics, and valuations of classes, groups
or individual properties in the assessment district;
iii) descriptions of the activities of the
assessor in the assessment process in the assessment district; and
iv) any other information that the
petitioning board considers relevant to a determination that the quantity and
complexity of assessments within the assessment district support reducing the
standards for qualification for the office of township or multi-township
assessor.
I) If the
petition states that the Chief County Assessment Officer will assess certain
commercial or industrial property within the assessment district, the petition
shall include a signed and dated copy of a written agreement between the
township or multi-township board of trustees, the Chief County Assessment
Officer, and the County Board for the Chief County Assessment Officer to assess
that property for at least the period of time covering the term associated with
the immediately following election for the township or multi-township assessor
(e.g., for a petition filed in 2004, the assessment agreement must indicate
that property within the township or multi-township assessment district will be
assessed by the Chief County Assessment Officer for at least the period of time
from January 1, 2006 until December 31, 2009). The petition shall also indicate
the equalized assessed value of each property to be assessed under that
agreement and of all other property in the township or multi-township
assessment district by class of property for the same year as that used for
certification of pre-election and pre-appointment qualifications by the
Department.
5) In
determining a petition for revision of assessor qualifications, the Department
shall consider evidence concerning the quantity and complexity of assessments
within the township or multi-township assessment district. The Department shall
not determine a petition in favor of the petitioning board on the basis that
all or a significant portion of the township or multi-township assessor's
duties have been undertaken by the Chief County Assessment Officer or another
entity. Evidence to be considered may include, but is not limited to:
A) Evidence that values for the assessment
district are different from the values used by the Department as the basis for
certifying the pre-election and pre-appointment requirements for the office of
township or multi-township assessor; and
B) Evidence that an assessment district would
have been in a category with reduced assessor qualifications if the equalized
assessed values of three or fewer properties to be assessed by the Chief County
Assessment Officer for the same year as that used for certification of
pre-election and pre-appointment qualifications by the Department are deducted
from the equalized assessed value upon which the qualifications are
based.
6) The Department
shall notify the township or multi-township board of trustees whether the
revision in assessor qualifications is allowed within 30 days after receipt of
the petition or receipt of any requested additional information, whichever is
later. If the Department revises assessor qualifications, the Department also
shall notify the township or multi-township clerk and the county clerk within
the same 30-day period.
7) When the
Department has allowed a request for a revision of assessor qualifications, the
revision shall remain in effect until the next certification under Section 2-50
of the Property Tax Code [35 ILCS
200/2-50] .