Take me back to the Oral History landing page.

Wendy Ryerson - Public School Funding

Wendy Ryerson serves as the Supervisor of Assessments for Lee County, Illinois, a position she has held since 2000. She describes the duties of the Supervisor of Assessments during the property tax cycle, and talks about the three ways of determining land value (income, sales, and cost) as well as local and state multipliers. Ryerson also addresses the different types of property (commercial, industrial, residential, and farmland) and tax exemptions (homestead, disabled, senior, active veterans, and senior low income). She describes how wind turbine values were set due to Lee County being the first in the state, the ethics of her profession and the role of the Illinois Department of Revenue. Roughly 65% of Lee County's local taxes go to the school districts.