The Daily Northwestern
On Tuesday night, a group of Evanston residents pushed hard to eliminate Sharon Eckersall’s job. Despite the criticism, the Evanston Township Assessor says her position is still important to the community
Eckersall helps steer residents through the complexities of their property taxes, and for some residents, her office’s efforts can save a substantial amount of money.
Evanston resident John Govreau said Eckersall and and her deputy, Diane Benjamin, went to great lengths to help him appeal his property taxes.
“I was just stunned by the amount of work done on an individual case,” Govreau said. “These people were outstanding.”
Govreau said on one Saturday afternoon, Benjamin came into the office at 4 p.m. just to help him. She stayed with him, guiding him through the appeals process until 9:45 p.m., Govreau said.
“That’s some kind of dedication,” he added.
Without help, Govreau would not have been able to find out as much as he did about the tax assessing process, he said. He was under the impression that he would need to seek out help from expensive lawyers to receive assistance.
But to some residents stories like this are too few and far between.
At Tuesday night’s Evanston Township meeting, residents voted to recommend placing a referendum on the November ballot to eliminate the township assessor position.
Calling Eckersall’s job “archaic,” Ald. Ann Rainey (8th) said eliminating it would save money. There has been some legal haggling since to determine whether such a motion is legal.
Brian Smith, executive director of Township Officials of Illinois, said that the Illinois State Legislature would have to vote to eliminate the position. Illinois townships are mandated by law to assess property.
Appointed to the assessor position in 1998 and elected to a four-year term in 2000, Eckersall is the only elected official in Evanston whose job requires her to meet any qualifications.
Evanston Township is a separate government body from the city’s government. In Evanston, the aldermen also serve as the board of trustees for the township.
At the meeting where residents proposed eliminating the position, Evanston’s lawyer, Herbert Hill, told residents he does not believe the assessor’s office can be eliminated.
Rainey said since the office does not actually conduct tax assessments, it has little purpose.
While the office does not perform actual tax assessments of people’s property for the most part, the office still is very important, Eckersall said. Though she is required to be qualified to perform assessments, the Cook County Assessor’s Office is in charge of performing all the assessments in the county.
“We take care of really difficult cases,” Eckersall said. “I do house calls, whenever needed.”
Benjamin, who began working as deputy this year, said one of the most important parts of the job is educating tax payers on how to fill out forms and apply for exemptions. She said elderly residents, who are in danger of losing their homes, often come into the office asking for help.
“We’re really watching out for them,” Benjamin said. “It’s really very easy to lose your property to tax sale.”
For resident not aware of the correct way to file for exemptions, Eckersall and Benjamin are there to instruct them. Seniors on fixed incomes who do not know how to file the right exemptions might end up overpaying their taxes, something they cannot afford to do, Benjamin said.
Though the office helps people save money on their taxes, Benjamin said she wants to make sure people are paying their fair share. The office also is in charge of keeping all of the building permits that are issued by the city so the Cook County Assessor’s Office can correctly judge the value of a resident’s property.
“Everything we do goes to correct assessing of property,” Benjamin said. “We are here at the service of Evanston Township tax payers.”
Eckersall, who also has a full-time job as real estate broker, makes about $6,000 a year working for the township.
“I’m not getting paid a lot,” Eckersall said, “but I do it because I can help.”
