Chris Ditton: Candidate for Avon Township Assessor

Name: Chris Ditton

Age: 48

Family: I have a wife, Kimberley, who I have been married to for the last 18 years. I have an adult step-daughter, Kelley. I have a son, Brian, who is a sophomore at Grayslake Central High School. We have a yellow Lab, Chloe.

Education: I have a B.S. from St. John's University in Collegeville, Minnesota. I have a Juris Doctor, J.D., from The John Marshall Law School. I have a CIAO Certificate from the Illinois Property Assessment Institute.

Occupation: I am the Assessor for Avon Township.

Previous Elected or Appointed Offices: I was elected to the position of Avon Township Trustee in April of 2009 and I held that position until Dec. 27, 2011. On Dec. 28, 2011 I became the Avon Township Assessor.

Other community involvement: I served on the Board of the Round Lake Area Chamber of Commerce from 2006-2010, and served as vice-president for several years. I have been an assistant and a head coach with the Grayslake Colts. I have been an assistant and head coach with the Grayslake Park District in-house basketball. I have been an assistant and a head coach with the Grayslake Youth baseball program.

Position sought: Assessor for Avon Township

Campaign E-mail address: Candidate did not respond.

Campaign committee: Avon Action

Campaign Website: www.avonaction.com

Campaign Facebook: www.facebook.com/avonaction

Campaign Twitter: Candidate did not respond.

Why are you running?

I’m running to ensure the continuation of responsible local government and property tax reform, including the fight to lower assessments for Avon Township residents. I served for two and a half as a Township Trustee and I voted three times to lower the tax levy. I believe this is of over-riding importance, as this not only reduces the tax burden of Township residents, but it sets an example for all other taxing entities that lowering the levy and maintaining services can and should be done. The Board should continue to stress lower tax levies. Secondly, fiscal responsibility is always key in any form of government. I served for two and half years as a Township trustee and both times I have a vote on the budgets for the Township and the Highway Department, I voted for reduced budgets.

I believe strongly in fiscal responsibility and that is why I reduced the Assessor's budget last year and will propose a budget with a further reduction this year. I believe it is incumbent on the Board to continue to hold the line on spending, as I have done, and I believe this will be critical over the next four years. The Board should leave the Township and its residents in a better position four years from now, as we have done over the last four years.  

I also believe Avon Township has offered a blue print for innovation. The Board must address the issue of Township Government and its continuation. As a property owner in Avon Township, I want the Board to think of innovative ways to continue to reduce the tax burden and one such way is the restructuring or elimination of Township Government. The Board must insure that, before reduction or eliminations takes place, that the vital services that the Township provides will be addressed by other, existing, governmental entities or, perhaps, by not-for-profit organizations. Again, for government to exist into the 21st Century and beyond, tough action must be taken, while providing for the most vulnerable of society.

In what ways would Avon Township benefit from your service?

I am the best candidate for the job of Avon Township Assessor because I have been able to reduce the assessments in Avon Township by 12.2 percent last year and will reduce the assessments by 10-12 percent this year, to bring assessment more in line with current values. Further, I have voted to reduce the Township levies and have submitted reduced budgets. I will continue to budget accordingly and I will not raise my budget. My office will continue to operate in a fiscally prudent manner, which the residents of Avon Township deserve. I have actually reduced costs to the taxpayers of Avon Township, not merely promised such and I will continue to do so. Additionally, I have attained the designation of CIAO, after taking and passing the prescribed courses. Further, I am a licensed Illinois attorney, who has been actively practicing for the past 21 and a-half years. I have spent approximately 18 of those years in the area of real estate, which makes me uniquely qualified to hold the office of Assessor. I can apply my legal training to insure that my office complies with legal requirements of assessing and can provide substantive legal analysis to questions that arise from the County Assessor's Office, thereby reducing legal costs to the Township. Further, my experience as a real estate attorney in this area provides me with extensive knowledge of the nuances of the assessment neighborhoods, allowing me to tailor the assessments in a positive way, which someone without that knowledge could not. I have been trained to break down problems in an analytical way and find answers to those problems, which serves me well as the Assessor, for I can break down the information received from the Department of Revenue and apply it in a cohesive manner to our assessments.

What is the biggest challenge the township faces and what should be done to address it?

I think the biggest challenge the Township faces is relevancy. Now, does the Township provide vital services to residents who truly need them; yes. However, as taxation in Lake County has spiraled out of control, we as elected officials owe it to our constituents to not just find ways to reduce taxes, spending, and elected official salaries, but also question the status quo and continue to find better ways of operating. The main question that comes to mind is whether or not Townships are absolutely needed. It is my strong opinion that many services of township government are duplicative and can be easily consolidated into layers of government that have been, and continue to offer the same services in a more cost effective way. I have advocated, and if reelected will continue to push for the consolidation of township government as a way to shrink tax levies even further.

What do you think the township does well?

As part of the current administration, I take pride in the fact that we have reduced our levies and budgets for the past four years. We have strived to operate without bloated budgets and to operate only those programs truly necessary to Township government. I believe that we have succeeded and there are no programs that I would cut. However, I continue to review my budget on a regular basis to determine if cuts can be accomplished without diminishing quality. I have spent considerable time on my most current budget and I have identified areas in which I can trim the budget, without effecting quality, such that I can cut the budget by $5,000.

What should be some of the township's priorities over the next several years?

Townships are currently needed to provide emergency and general assistance to the needy, transportation services to seniors and to provide food, via a food pantry, to those individuals and families in need. Also Townships are needed to assess property and provide highway services to unincorporated areas of the Township. Townships should focus on their core-assistance, assessing and highway functions-and not branch off into areas that are already covered by existing governmental entities. For example, in Avon Township, we have the Grayslake Park District and the Round Lake Area Park District, the Township does not need to operate any programs of a park district nature. As plans are put in place to shift the duties of the Township to existing governmental entities or not-for-profit organizations, the residents of the Township should be able to vote to eliminate parts of Township government. In sum, Townships should not expand their footprint in areas that can be served by the existing governmental entities. The Township's role should be to reduce itself, while focusing on provided emergency and general assistance, transportation services to seniors, food pantry operations, assessment functions and highway operations.

What else would you like voters to know?

Avon Township has reduced its tax levies every year I’ve been in office. We’ve done this by substantially reducing spending and lowering tax levies. However, Avon Township is only one of many levies on your tax bill. Many other taxing bodies have, unfortunately, decided that they don’t wish to be part of the solution and reduce the overall burden on taxpayers. Local governments must find ways to cut and yet still deliver effective services. I have found ways to reduce expenses, allowing for me to proudly adopt one of the lowest budgets in recent history. I find it troubling that other local governments can’t seem to offer relief to area taxpayers.

I look forward to continuing to serve as the Avon Township Assessor and being part of the solution to local property tax reform. In fact, I have partnered with our State Representative on his introduction of House Bill 944, a law that would double the homestead and senior homestead exemption, providing immediate tax relief to those most in need.