Meet the Assessor

The Office of the Assessor is the only elected position that has statutory, pre-election requirements. In Green Garden Township (GGT) the candidate must obtain the Certified Illinois Assessing Officer (CIAO) designation from the Illinois Department of Revenue. Incumbent elected assessors must complete continuing education requirements before they can run for re-election.

The assessor’s responsibilities include the mass appraisal of all taxable property within the township. Mass appraisal requires the assessor to perform three fundamental yet vital duties:
1. Discover, list, and value all new construction within the jurisdiction
2. Ensure that existing property is valued at the appropriate statutory level of market value
3. Assure that similar property is valued in a uniform manner.

Green Garden Township Assessor, Jane Bushong, CIAO, has resided in Green Garden Township for over 20 years. She obtained her CIAO designation in August 2019 and was appointed as Green Garden Township’s Assessor in September 2019.

Jane continues her education with the Illinois Department of Revenue and the Illinois Property Assessment Institute as an Illinois Assessor requirement. Jane has a strong background in business administration, automation software, and public relations. She is married, has 4 grown children, 8 grandchildren, and a variety of rescue dogs and cats. When not working for the township, she loves gardening and landscaping. Jane is an active member of the Will County Association of Assessors and Townships of Illinois.

Jane’s goal and commitment is to provide an open, friendly and accessible Assessor’s office and to automate all Green Garden taxable property so that the assessment information is permanently maintained and stored on computer systems using Assessor-designed software integrated with Will County. This will help to ensure accuracy, transparency, and accountability of all Green Garden Township assessed properties.

What else does the assessor do?

The assessor’s office also keeps track of ownership changes, maintains maps of parcel boundaries, keeps descriptions of building and property characteristics up to date, and keeps track of individuals and properties eligible for exemptions and other forms of property tax relief. Most importantly, the assessor analyzes trends in sales prices, construction costs, and rents, to estimate the value of all assessable property.