I grew up in Zion graduating from Zion-Benton High School in 1976. Zion is home and I am proud to say this community has played such an integral part in helping make me the person I am today.

Before becoming the Zion Township Assessor, I was a Principal Appraiser in the Lake County Chief County Assessment Office for over 25 years. I have been a Certified Illinois Assessing Officer since 1983, and look forward to both the challenges and the rewards that will come with
being the Assessor of Zion Township.

The Office of Township Assessor is one of the most important and least understood of all Township offices. The Assessor appraises each property to determine its market value using methodologies established by the Illinois Department of Revenue.  Property is then assessed at 33.33% of that value by statute.  There are over 8,300 parcels in Zion Township.
The Assessor is responsible for placing market values on each parcel in his/her jurisdiction.

Your tax dollars are determined by the tax rate; a percentage representation of the amount of money the taxing bodies require from the property tax system.  After the Assessor appraises property, the assessments are used to apportion the tax burden created by the taxing authorities such as the schools, City of Zion, Zion Park District, Forest Preserve District and the Township. Consequently, we cannot discuss the amount of your tax bill, only the value of your property.

In order to maintain proper records on all improved parcels in Zion Township, we receive a copy of every building permit issued by the City of Zion. The Assessors Office, in turn, physically inspects each property that is affected by said permits. We also receive a copy of each recorded sales declaration from the County Recorder of Deeds. This information allows us to perform a statistical analysis of the market in Zion Township.

Our office also initiates exemptions such as: Homestead Limited, Homestead Improvement and Senior Homestead, which we certify to the County for Application. As an added service, we help seniors apply for the Senior Freeze and Circuit Breaker programs.

To find out more about these exemptions, you can visit www.co.lake.il.us/assessor and click on “Property Tax Relief” on the left side of the screen. There you will find a complete description of the exemptions available. We strive to assure that all of our homeowners receive all of the exemptions to which they may be entitled. If you think
you might be eligible, but are not receiving these exemptions, please free to contact my office directly. 

If you wish to find out more about the entire property tax process, the website above is a very good resource. If you would like to compare your assessment to that of similar properties in you neighborhood, you can easily do that at http://www.co.lake.il.us/assessor/assessments/default.asp by putting in either your address or permanent index number and then looking at the properties around you to see how they are assessed.

As always, if you should have any questions or need assistance using the websites shown above, please contact my office directly and we will be more than happy to assist you. I look forward to working with the residents of Zion for many years to come.

Hours: Monday thru Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Phone: 847.872.5031
Fax:      847.872.6865
Email:  zionassessor@co.lake.il.us