Jersey County has received a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, as announced by David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR). This factor, commonly known as the “multiplier,” is used to ensure uniform property assessments across counties in compliance with legal requirements. The process is crucial for maintaining fairness among taxpayers in the state’s 6,600 local taxing districts, some of which span multiple counties.
According to a law enacted in 1975, properties in Illinois should be assessed at one-third of their market value. Farm properties are evaluated differently; while farm homesites and dwellings follow regular procedures, farmland is assessed at one-third of its agricultural economic value and does not use the state equalization factor.
In Jersey County, assessments are currently at 33.59% of market value based on sales from 2021 through 2023. The newly assigned equalization factor applies to taxes for 2024, payable in 2025. Last year’s multiplier was also set at 1.0000.
The final assessment equalization factor was determined after a public hearing on the tentative factor issued on April 16, 2025, which was also set at 1.0000. The annual determination involves comparing the prices of individual properties sold over three years with their assessed values by county officials.
If the three-year average level of assessment matches one-third of market value, the multiplier remains one (1). If it exceeds this threshold, the factor falls below one (1), and if it falls short, it rises above one (1).
Changes in the equalization factor do not directly affect total property tax bills; these are decided by local taxing bodies when they request funds annually for community services. Should these requests remain consistent with previous years’ amounts, overall property taxes will not rise even if assessments increase.
An individual’s share of tax responsibility is dictated by their property’s assessed value relative to others and remains unaffected by changes in the multiplier.
