Prairie State Wire

Perry County has received a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000 for 2024, according to David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR). The equalization factor, also known as the "multiplier," is used to ensure that property assessments are uniform across all counties in Illinois. This process helps maintain fairness among taxpayers, especially in areas where local taxing districts such as school and fire protection districts overlap county lines.

The law requires most properties in Illinois to be assessed at one-third of their market value. Farm properties are treated differently; while farm homesites and dwellings follow regular assessment procedures, farmland itself is assessed at one-third of its agricultural economic value and is not affected by the state equalization factor. In Perry County, assessments are currently at 33.33% of market value based on property sales from 2021 to 2023.

The newly assigned equalization factor applies to taxes payable in 2025. Last year’s multiplier for Perry County was also set at 1.0000. Before being finalized, the tentative factor—also set at 1.0000—was subject to a public hearing.

According to IDOR, “The property assessment equalization factor, often called the ‘multiplier,’ is the method used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties, as required by law. This equalization is particularly important because some of the state's 6,600 local taxing districts overlap into two or more counties (e.g., school districts, junior college districts, fire protection districts). If there was no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result.”

Each year, IDOR determines the multiplier by comparing three years’ worth of property sale prices with their assessed values in each county. If average assessments match one-third of market value over this period, the multiplier remains at one; if not, it is adjusted accordingly.

A change in the multiplier does not directly affect total property tax bills. Local taxing bodies set tax rates based on their budget needs for services provided within their jurisdictions. If those bodies do not request more funding than they did previously, overall tax bills will remain stable even if assessments rise.

The individual share of a taxpayer’s burden depends on their property's assessed value relative to others in the area and is not altered by changes in the multiplier.