Monroe County has been issued a tentative property assessment equalization factor of 1.0297 by 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 important because some of the state’s 6,600 local taxing districts overlap into two or more counties, such as school districts. 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 homesites 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 assessor.

If the three-year average level of assessment is one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be 1.0000. If the average level of assessment is greater than one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be less than 1.0000. 

Assessments in Monroe County are at 32.37 percent of market value based on sales of properties in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Last year’s equalization factor for Monroe County was 1.0000.

The tentative factor is subject to change if the Monroe County Board of Review takes actions which significantly affect the county assessments or if local officials or others can present data showing that IDOR’s estimates of the average level of assessments in the county should be adjusted. 

A public hearing on the tentative multiplier will be held 20-30 days after the tentative factor is published in the Republic-Times newspaper.

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.