Iroquois County Final Multiplier Announced, Ensuring Fair Property Assessments

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Iroquois County, Illinois, has recently unveiled its final property assessment equalization factor, commonly known as the "multiplier." With a value of 0.9344, as declared by David Harris, Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue, this multiplier plays a crucial role in achieving fair and consistent property assessments across counties.

The implementation of an equalization factor is essential due to the overlapping jurisdictions of the state's numerous local taxing districts, such as school and fire protection districts. Without such equalization measures, taxpayers with comparable properties could face significant disparities in their tax burdens.

In accordance with a 1975 law, Illinois property assessments should ideally represent one-third (1/3) of their market value. While farm property follows a different assessment process, with farm homesites and dwellings subject to regular procedures, farmland itself is evaluated at one-third of its agricultural economic value and is not subject to the state equalization factor.

Based on property sales data from 2019, 2020, and 2021, assessments in Iroquois County currently stand at 35.67 percent of market value. The equalization factor, which pertains to 2022 taxes payable in 2023, has been determined to be 0.9344. Last year, the county's equalization factor was 1.0000.

Following a public hearing on the tentative factor, the final assessment equalization factor was issued. The initially proposed factor in December 2022 was 0.9084.

The annual equalization factor for each county is calculated by comparing the prices of recently sold properties with their assessed values determined by the county supervisor of assessments/county assessor over the past three years. If the average assessment level is one-third of the market value, the equalization factor remains at one (1). A higher average assessment level results in a factor less than one, while a lower level leads to a factor greater than one.

It is important to note that changes in the equalization factor do not directly impact total property tax bills. The responsibility for setting tax rates lies with local taxing bodies, who determine the amount required to fund local services each year. As long as the requested amount does not exceed the previous year's total, property taxes will not increase, regardless of assessment changes.

Ultimately, the assessed value of a property determines an individual taxpayer's portion of the overall tax burden. This responsibility remains unaffected by the multiplier, as its purpose is to ensure fair assessments rather than alter tax allocations.