Fifty-five property assessors in 36 counties are unqualified for office or did not properly file their paperwork to run for office, according to a recent report from the Edgar County Watchdogs.
“Every state’s attorney in these 36 counties should have already taken action to remove these people from office and require proper appointments of qualified people take place,” Watchdogs co-founder Kirk Allen wrote in the group’s report. “Is anyone willing to bet on that taking place?”
State law requires that assessors meet certain education requirements and that they file a certificate demonstrating they meet those requirements with their nominating papers. According to the Watchdogs, which examined a report from the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDR), 25 assessors did not meet the education requirements while 30 did not file their certifications. The Watchdogs noted that the IDR documentation shows that some of these assessors still have not undergone the appropriate training.
“We contend that any property that has been assessed by these people constitutes an illegal assessment as they were put in those positions in direct violation of state law, as confirmed by the IDR and anyone competent enough to read the statute,” Allen wrote. “We also contend anyone impacted by these illegal assessors' actions, property owners and public bodies who received property tax should take immediate legal action.”
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