The State Department of Revenue will assign a tax multiplier of 1.00 to Marion County for this year’s tax bills.
The decision means the state has found the 12-percent multiplier assigned earlier by Supervisor of Assessments Mark Miller will be enough to bring the county’s equalization to one-third of its value. The multiplier is used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties, as required by law.
Marion County has been issued a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, according to David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR). The state says if there was no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result.
Farm property is assessed differently with farm homesites and dwellings subject to regular assessing and equalization procedures. Farmland is assessed at one-third of its agriculture economic value and not subject to the state equalization factor.
Marion County Supervisor of Assessment’s Mark Miller says 201 complaints were filed this year about property assessment levels, 92 in the final day to file a complaint with the Board of Review. That’s up from 178 complaints filed last year.
Miller says 60-percent of the reviews resulted in a change in assessed value, with almost all being reduced. 40 turned in appraisals with their complaint, which Miller says does not upset the office. Instead, he reports they are helpful in reviewing complaints. So far 12 have filed appeals of the Board of Review to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
Assessments in Marion County are at 33.09% of market value, based on sales of properties in 2022, 2023, and 2024. Last year’s equalization factor for the county was 1.0262. The final assessment equalization factor was issued after a public hearing on the tentative factor.
The equalization factor is determined annually for each county by comparing the price of individual properties sold over the past three years to the assessed value placed on those properties by the county supervisor of assessments/county assessor.
If the three-year average level of assessment is one-third of the market value, the equalization factor will be one (1). If the average level of assessment is greater than one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be less than one (1). And if the average level of assessment is less than one-third of market value, the equalization factor will be greater than one (1).
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 increase.
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.
