McLean County Times

McLean County has received a tentative property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, according to David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR). The equalization factor, also known as the "multiplier," is used to ensure that property assessments are uniform across counties in Illinois.

The multiplier is necessary because some of the state's 6,600 local taxing districts, such as school districts and fire protection districts, extend into more than one county. Without this process, there could be significant differences in how taxpayers with similar properties are assessed.

State law requires most property in Illinois to be assessed at one-third of its market value. Farm homesites and dwellings follow regular assessing and equalization procedures, while farmland and farm buildings are assessed based on productivity standards.

The IDOR determines the equalization factor for each county every year by comparing sales prices from the past three years with the assessed values set by local assessors. When the average level of assessment matches one-third of market value, the factor is set at 1.0000. If assessments are higher or lower than this standard, the multiplier is adjusted accordingly.

For McLean County, assessments were found to be at 33.28% of market value based on property sales from 2022 through 2024. The current tentative factor applies to taxes for 2025 payable in 2026. Last year’s multiplier was also set at 1.0000.

The tentative figure may change if actions by the County Board of Review significantly affect county assessments or if new data suggests adjustments are needed. A public hearing will take place between 20 and 30 days after publication of the tentative multiplier in a local newspaper.

A change in the equalization factor does not automatically alter total property tax bills; those amounts depend on requests made by local taxing bodies for funding each year. Even if assessments increase, overall taxes do not rise unless local governments request more revenue than they did previously.

"The property assessment equalization factor, often called the 'multiplier,' is the method used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties, as required by law," said David Harris.

The portion of tax responsibility assigned to an individual taxpayer depends on their property's assessed value and does not change because of adjustments to the multiplier.