Ford County homeowners should ready themselves to potentially dig a little deeper into their pockets come next tax season. According to the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR), the county has received a tentative property assessment equalization factor—more commonly known as the "multiplier"—of 1.0438. This figure stands in stark contrast to last year’s multiplier of 1.0000. The purpose of the identifier is to ensure uniform property assessments across the state's counties, thereby safeguarding against disparities among taxpayers with similar property values.
This multiplier is crucial in maintaining balanced property tax assessments, especially when considering the over 6,600 local taxing districts in Illinois that span multiple counties. This particular factor was determined by IDOR comparing individual property sales prices over the past three years with their respective assessed values. In Ford County, the assessments have fallen slightly short, calculating 31.93% of market value based on property sales in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
It's important to recognize that a change in the equalization factor does not directly translate to an increase or decrease in total property tax bills. These tax bills are determined by the requests of local taxing bodies—how much money they need each year to render services to the community. Taxpayers will not see an increase in their total property taxes if the amount requested by these districts doesn't exceed the amount collected in the prior year, even if individual assessments may have risen.
However, the assessed value of a specific property does determine the slice of the tax burden an individual taxpayer will need to assume. Adjusting the multiplier subsequently adjusts each taxpayer's share of that pie. The IDOR has made it clear that the currently assigned factor is for the 2024 taxes, which will be payable in 2025. Moreover, this tentative factor may still be adjusted if the County Board of Review acts in a way that significantly affects the county assessments, or if local officials present new data suggesting a revision is necessary.
A public hearing concerning the tentative multiplier is scheduled to be held within 20 to 30 days following the factor's publication in a newspaper with general circulation throughout the county. Ford County's residents now wait to see the final multiplier, which will be essential in determining their property tax responsibilities.
