MCHENRY COUNY – The only contested race in Grafton Township for the February 23 Republican Consolidated Primary is between Assessor Alan Zielinski and his challenger Terra de Baltz of Huntley. While voting is important whether it’s one contested race or a dozen, the significance of this race is what this story will detail.
One of the motivating factors for voters in local races is anything affecting their property taxes. So naturally the first question for each of the Assessor candidates is for their response to rising property taxes.
Zielinski, a resident of the Crystal Lake area, says he shares their pain with property taxes.
“That said, our office deals only with assessments not taxes. Assessments determine a property owner’s share of the total levy not the amount. I often use the analogy of a railroad track: one rail is assessments and the other is property taxes. Same track but completely different rails,” Zielinski explained.
One of the goals de Baltz has set encourages taxpayers to contact her and allow her to help them understand the property tax cycle better.
“This will help identify each department’s responsibilities and can benefit from exercising their most useful rights with regards to property taxes and assessments,” de Baltz said.
How has Zelinski changed and improved the Assessor’s Office from the time he became Assessor in January 2014?
“Since 2014, improving accuracy and fairness across the entire township has been our focus,” Zielinski said. “As a result, Grafton was the only McHenry County township to consistently surpass the Department of Revenue’s specifications for assessment accuracy and uniformity every year since I took office in 2014. Rebuilding the assessor’s office and training an entire replacement staff to maintain and improve upon that record of success is the monumental challenge.”
De Baltz believes the improvements she envisions for Grafton Township are founded on her own experiences as a taxpayer. But she also says the opinions and experiences of taxpayers throughout the township are important.
Among her objectives, “I plan to institute a coherent and reliable method of assessing all classes and property types throughout the township and coordinate with neighboring assessors to ensure uniformed assessments within areas divided between townships and counties so the net taxable values of comparable properties are well-proportioned.”
Zielinski’s office is based on the mantra: “Fairness for all, not deals for some.” He was asked about the meaning and reason behind the mantra.
His answer is two-fold.
“Our office is somewhat unique in its use of the Market Approach to value. That uses the recent sale prices of properties to establish their fair cash value for assessment purposes. The market informs us of the value of a property as established by an arms-length sales transaction,” he said.
This is what Zielinski calls “accurate, fair and completely unbiased.” His office submits its assessment book and then it’s the final assessments determined by the McHenry County Supervisor of Assessments and Board of Review.
“Often those assessments are changed at the county level without a sound basis in market data. Sometimes, changes are made even without the need for the taxpayer to file an appeal. Those reductions affect everyone by having the residential equalized assessed value spread among all township taxpayers through the county’s annual equalizer,” Zielinski said.
How will Grafton Township residents benefit from the experience de Baltz has had as Deputy Assessor of Elgin Township?
“In my eleventh year of working in township government, I have participated in all aspects of the assessment process and am very familiar with the innumerable dealings of the office on a daily basis. I have directed interaction with property owners and tend to their questions and concerns regularly,” de Baltz said.
This information by no means covers all the aspects of the position and the candidates highlights of which de Baltz listed six including being a leader versus a “manager” or “supervisor,” and Zielinski listing 10 highlights including command of the Illinois Property Tax Code.
For more information about both candidates, please go to their websites.
The website for Terra de Baltz is www.terra4assessor.comfor more information about her candidacy. The website for Alan Zielinski is alforassessor.com.
