Property owners in Logan, Knox, and Schuyler counties can breathe a sigh of relief as the Illinois Department of Revenue issued the final property assessment equalization factors for 2023. According to the announcements made, Logan and Schuyler counties' multipliers have been set at a balanced 1.0000, while Knox County faces a slight decrease at 0.9786. This critical figure ensures uniform property assessments across the state's counties, affecting approximately 6,600 local taxing districts.
David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue, mandates this uniformity to protect against inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties. As laid out in a law passed in 1975, properties in Illinois should be valued at one-third of their market value, a metric that excludes farmland assessed at a different rate, focusing solely on their agricultural economic value. The data from Logan County, Knox County, and Schuyler County reveal assessment percentages of 33.41%, 34.06%, and 33.39% respectively, based on property sales from the past three years.
The purpose of the equalization factor also referred to as the "multiplier," is to align the three-year average level of assessment with the state-required one-third market value. If the average level is on par with the one-third market value, the multiplier is set at one. Should the average exceed or fall short of the market value, the multiplier adjusts accordingly to correct the balance. While Knox County saw a drop this year from its previous 1.0000 factor, both Logan and Schuyler Counties remained at a steadfast 1.0000, signaling no major shifts in property tax responsibilities for those residents, as the values appear to be in line with state requirements.
Yet, the Department of Revenue stresses that a change in the equalization factor does not automatically trigger an increase or decrease in overall property tax bills. Tax rates are primarily dictated by local taxing bodies which determine the necessary revenue to provide community services each year. This fiscal intricacy means that even with assessment increases, total property taxes may not inflate if the money requested by these local entities does not exceed last year's totals. It’s the individual property's assessed value that carves out a taxpayer's share of the tax burden, a portion unaffected directly by the multiplier."
