How do school districts use value?
The first time school districts receive the new-year property value information in an official value certification is in October. The October 1 Tax Apportionment Value Certification is used by school districts to determine municipal tax bills. After October 1, the Department of Revenue may refine this same set of numbers until a “final” version is issued the following May (almost 1 1/2 years after the date of the assessment). This final version is known as the School Aid Value Certification and will be used in the FOLLOWING year’s Equalization Aid formula. So, as an example, property value as of January 1, 2007 will eventually be used in the 2008-09 Equalization Aid computation. Both School-Aid and Tax Apportionment Values are issued in 2 formats – Tif-In and Tif-Out. “TIF” districts are created and utilized by municipalities to fund property development or redevelopment projects. When a municipality creates a TIF, the value of that property at TIF creation (base-level) is determined.
