Southern Illinois News

Hardin County has been assigned a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, announced David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR). Known as the "multiplier," this factor ensures uniform property assessments among counties, as mandated by law. This process is critical as some local taxing districts in the state overlap into multiple counties.

"In 1975, legislation established that property in Illinois should be assessed at one-third of its market value," Harris explained. Farmland evaluation diverges from other properties, with farmland assessed at one-third of its agricultural economic value, making it exempt from the state equalization factor.

Reports show Hardin County's assessments at 33.32% of market value based on property sales from 2021 to 2023. The equalization factor applies to 2024 taxes, which are payable in 2025. Last year, the county's equalization factor was also 1.0000.

The final factor was determined after a public hearing on the tentative factor of 1.1298 issued on February 27, 2025. Harris elaborated, "The annual determination of the equalization factor for each county is based on the comparison of property sale prices over the last three years to their assessed values." The factor is adjusted if the average assessment level deviates from one-third of market value.

A change in the equalization factor doesn't guarantee a change in property tax bills. This depends on the annual funding requests from local taxing entities. If these requests do not surpass the previous year's amount, taxes won't rise even if assessments do.

The assessed value of a property decides the owner's share of tax responsibility, which remains unaffected by the multiplier.