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By Mike Nester For The Prairie Advocate News

MOUNT CARROLL The Carroll County Board of Review voted 2-0 to deny the Eastland School Districts protest and appeal of the real estate tax assessment in Freedom Township.

The three-member board heard Eastlands protest Monday morning, March 12, at a special hearing at the Carroll County Courthouse. Presenting Eastlands case was attorney Tim Zollinger.

Zollinger, whose presentation ran longer than the 20 minutes given, argued the county assessor had no legal authority to reassess Freedom Township and the equalization factor should only be eight percent, not nearly 20 percent.

Eastlands attorney also presented two appellate court cases from Jo Daviess County were individual property owners won decisions over the county assessor.

Carroll County States Attorney Scott Brinkmeier said he had studied the cases and felt they were not an equal comparison. Brinkmeier said the cases dealt with individual properties, not an entire township.

Zollinger said on a few occasions during the hearing that the appeal was not about getting more money for the Eastland School District but holding the assessor accountable.

Zollinger also unsuccessfully argued that according to tax code ILCS 200/9-75 the county assessor had no authority to assess Freedom Township prior to the annual four-year assessment.

However, the Illinois Dept. of Revenue (IDR) has already ruled that under ILCS 200/9-80 the Carroll County Office of Assessment had the legal obligation to assess Freedom Township based on the sales ratio study, which showed Freedom Township taxpayers would be paying 58.48 of their actual assessed value instead of the required 33.3 percent.

Board of Review member Judy Dampman said she agreed with the state saying everything was done correctly.

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Board of Review Denies Eastland Protest & Appeal