Prairie State Wire

Sangamon County has been assigned a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, as confirmed by David Harris, the Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR). The property assessment equalization factor, known commonly as the "multiplier," is used to ensure that property assessments across various counties remain uniform, in compliance with legal requirements. This is crucial for Illinois because several of the state's local taxing districts, such as school districts and fire protection districts, may span across multiple counties. Without equalization, there could be significant disparities among taxpayers with similar properties.

In Illinois, a law from 1975 mandates that property assessments should be set at one-third of their market value. Unlike general properties, farm properties are assessed with specific criteria: while homesites and dwellings undergo regular assessment and equalization, farmland is appraised at one-third of its agricultural economic value and is not subjected to the state equalization factor.

According to Harris, Sangamon County's assessments stand at 33.32% of the market value, using property sales data from 2021, 2022, and 2023. The equalization factor applied is for 2024 taxes, which will be paid in 2025. The same factor was applied the previous year.

Before finalizing the equalization factor, a public hearing was held, following a tentative factor of 1.0889 that had been issued on January 30, 2025. Annually, the equalization factor for each county is calculated by comparing the selling prices of individual properties over the past three years to their assessed values as determined by the county supervisor of assessments or county assessor. If the average three-year level of assessments is at one-third of the market value, the equalization factor remains at one. It decreases if the average level of assessment is above one-third of the market value and increases if it is below.

It should be noted that adjustments in the equalization factor do not automatically result in changes to total property tax bills. Tax amounts are set by local taxing bodies, who decide on the funds needed to provide services to residents. As long as these funds do not exceed previous requests, property taxes will not rise even if assessments do.

The assessed value of a property dictates the portion of the tax burden its owner will bear. This individual tax liability remains unaffected by the multiplier.