This arrived in my email from Dorr Township Assessor Veronica Myers:

“I would like to take this opportunity to personally commend Bill Ottley, Grafton Township Assessor.

“I have been in the assessment profession since 1993. I began working with the McHenry County
Supervisor of Assessments Office Board of Review section. I was then hired at Dorr Township as Chief
Deputy Assessor and am now the current Dorr Township Assessor.

“Through the years, I have gotten to know Bill Ottley and am familiar with his work. I know how much
this man is dedicated to serving the residents of Grafton Township with accurate and uniform property
assessments. Each year, assessors can see the statistics showing the performance of our fellow
assessors. I personally always looked to Grafton Township’s statistics first as a comparison to my own,
because I know that Bill Ottley and his team are an example of exemplary, high quality work.

“In regard to the assessment system, Illinois statute requires assessed values to be based on three prior
years of sales statistics. For 2013, this means the assessments are to be based on the average market
years of 2010, 2011 and 2012.

“Because of this standard, the assessments will lag behind what the market is doing currently. However,
the three prior year standard changes during the time frame when assessments can be appealed.
During the appeal time frame, assessed values are established using more current sales instead of the
three prior years of sales. Because the market has been in decline, this means that most assessment
appeals will be successful simply due to the change in standard. If during the appeal time frame the
same standards were used, there would be far fewer assessments being reduced. This difference in
assessment standards is a problem with the system, not with Mr. Ottley.

“Bill Ottley has my utmost respect and Grafton Township would be well served by his reelection.”