Hamilton County has been issued a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, the state Department of Financial & Professional Regulation announced.
Illinois uses the property assessment equalization factor, or “multiplier,” to ensure uniform property assessments. The state has 6,600 local taxing districts. Since some districts overlap two or more counties, the multiplier ensures that taxpayers are taxed fairly.
In Illinois, properties are assessed at one-third of the market value. In Hamilton County, assessments of properties are currently at 33.49 percent of the market value. This assessment is based on property sales from 2013 through 2015. Last year’s multiplier was 1.0367.
The multiplier is determined by comparing three years of property sales with the county’s assessed values. If the three-year assessment average is one-third of the market (or sales) value, the multiplier is 1. If the assessment average is greater, the multiplier will be less than 1. If the average is less, the multiplier will be greater than 1.
While the multiplier has changed, property owners might not see a change in their property tax bills. If the local taxing body does not request a larger amount to pay for services than it received the previous year, the total amount of property taxes will not increase.
