Will County Gazette

Warren L. Dixon III is proudly cut in his late father’s image.

Running unopposed, he’s poised to assume his second term as Naperville township assessor this spring after succeeding his father, Walter L. Dixon, who served 28 years in the same post before falling ill to the throat cancer to which he later succumbed.

“He was more a professional than he ever was a politician,” Dixon III, who first took office in 2013, told the Will County Gazette of his dad.

“My grandfather owned a large appraisal company in Aurora, so I’m a third-generation real estate guy,” he said. “I’d like to think some of all they knew has rubbed off on me and makes me uniquely qualified to tackle the challenges of this office.”

Certainly, the people of Naperville seem sold on his abilities. And it’s not just happenstance that he’s one of the few area office holders to be running unopposed for re-election.

“Being an assessor, especially in an area as large as Naperville, is a highly qualified post,” Dixon said. “On top of that, all the people in my office do what they do at such a high and prideful level that maybe it deters others from wanting to jump into the race.”

A lifelong Naperville-Aurora resident, Dixon is convinced that also gives him a certain level of instant credibility with his constituents.  

He’s long been on record in asserting Naperville residents want one of their own appraising and evaluating their property tax base, insisting that such inside knowledge can go a long way in helping to keep property taxes at a minimum.

“Understanding the complexities of the property tax universe is a big part of this office,” Dixon said. “Beyond that, you have to be able to articulate that information to the voters and explain to them why everything related to the property taxes they’re charged is done the way it’s done.”

That leaves Dixon to serve as host of a steady stream of homeowner meetings and business forums, where he seeks to explain to residents such realities as how property tax dollars account for 73 percent of all public education spending and how and why those dollars are allocated as they are.

Dixon takes all the shared dialogue in stride, as much of it seems to come naturally to him.  

“I have been afforded the luxury of a lot of practical experience,” Dixon said of his third-generation pedigree as an appraiser. “I’m following in the footsteps of my dad and granddad and I’ve been given many tools to succeed. They're big shoes to fill, but I’ve been blessed with the practical experience to do it.”

Warren earned his Real Estate Appraisal license nearly 20 years ago, and has also been a managing partner of Dixon Appraisal since 1997.

He has also worked as a chief commercial deputy assessor for Lockport Township, and as a staffer for both Aurora and Lisle Townships. He is also a past member of the DuPage County Board of Review.

He and his wife, Nicole, are the parents of three boys and have resided in the vicinity of the township all their lives.