Morgan and Greene County have been issued tentative property assessment equalization factors by the Illinois Department of Revenue. Morgan County’s factor was 1.0240 issued on February 3rd. Greene County’s factor is 1.0205, announced today. Both factors are higher than the previous year’s factor of 1.
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. If there were no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result.
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.
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.