Kane County's Mark Armstrong: By the Numbers

On March 6, 2023, Mark Armstrong, will have been on the job for 6,000 days. Who is Mark Armstrong? He’s Kane County’s ‘numbers’ man and a a highly valued one at that.

Armstrong is now in his fifth term (17 years) as Kane County’s Supervisor of Assessments, the taxpayers go-to office for property assessments and property tax exemption information. An assessment is part of the formula that determines how much tax a property owner will pay and an exemption is a way to reduce the taxable value of a property.

“People for years would see their property value go up and their property taxes go up and assume the assessment is the sole cause,” said Armstrong. “Property taxes go up when local government spending goes up. What an assessment does, is divide that spending up so it is billed on a proportional basis, based on the relative value of each property.”

The amount of overall tax is determined by what each taxing body calculates it needs to function. Kane County Government receives 4% an individual property tax bill. The remaining portion of the bill goes to other taxing bodies such as school districts (68%), municipalities (10%), park and library districts and townships.

“Another misconception about property taxes is that they can be paid at the Assessor’s office when they are actually paid at the Kane County Treasurer’s Office,” said Armstrong.

The Treasurer’s office sends out the tax bills on behalf of all taxing bodies in the County then collects and distributes it back to the taxing bodies. There are nearly 200,000 parcels assessed in Kane County.

Armstrong oversees 13 full-time positions. Except for his newest employees, all of his deputy assessors hold a Certified Illinois Assessing Officers designation.

“We are one of the few counties that promotes professional certification for all employees, ensuring that we have a highly trained staff so people get their questions answered on the first try,” said Armstrong.

Those questions can include whether a property qualifies for an exemption or how to dispute a property assessment. He expects those disputes to increase when all Kane County parcels are reassessed in 2023, a process that is done every four years.

Outside of the day to day calculations and deadlines, Armstrong serves as a mentor, partner and leader in his field, penning over a dozen pieces of legislation that have saved Kane County and taxpayers across the state millions of dollars.

Armstrong is now the longest serving Supervisor of Assessments in Kane County history. He says he has been fortunate to work with a good staff, have the support of the Kane County Board and interact with a collaborative tax team that includes the County Clerk and Treasurer.

Learn more about the Kane County Assessment Office at www.kanecountyassessments.org