Morgan County has been issued a tentative property assessment equalization factor of 0.9797, according to David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue.
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 of the state’s multiple taxing bodies that overlap into multiple counties. If there was no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result.
State law requires property in Illinois to be assessed at one-third of its market value. Farm property is assessed differently with farm home sites and dwellings subject to regular assessing and equalization procedures. Farmland and farm buildings are assessed according to standards based on productivity.
The equalization factor is determined annually for each county by comparing the sales price of individual properties sold over the past three years to the assessed value placed on those properties by the county supervisor of assessments/ county assessor. f the three-year average level of assessment is one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be one. If the average level of assessment is greater than one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be less than one. And if the average level of assessment is less than one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be greater than one.
Assessments in Morgan County are at 34.02% of market value, based on sales of properties in 2020, 2021, and 2022. The equalization factor currently being assigned is for taxes, 2023 payable in 2024. Last year’s equalization factor in the county was one.
A change in the equalization factor does not mean total property tax bills will increase or decrease. Tax bills are determined by local taxing bodies when they request money each year to provide services to local citizens. If the amount requested by local taxing districts is not greater than the amount received in the previous year, then total property taxes will not increase even if assessments may have increased.
The assessed value of an individual property determines what portion of the tax burden a specific taxpayer will assume. That individual’s portion of tax responsibility is not changed by the multiplier.