SE Illinois News

Gallatin County has received a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000 for 2024, according to David Harris, director of the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR).

The property assessment equalization factor, also known as the "multiplier," is used to ensure that property assessments are uniform across counties in Illinois. This process is required by law and helps prevent tax inequities among taxpayers with similar properties, especially since many of the state's local taxing districts extend into more than one county.

David Harris explained, "The property assessment equalization factor, often called the 'multiplier,' is the method used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties, as required by law. This equalization is particularly important because some of the state's 6,600 local taxing districts overlap into two or more counties (e.g., school districts, junior college districts, fire protection districts). If there was no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result."

State law passed in 1975 mandates that most property in Illinois be assessed at one-third of its market value. However, farm properties are assessed differently; while farm homesites and dwellings follow regular procedures and are subject to equalization, farmland itself is assessed at one-third of its agricultural economic value and does not use the state multiplier.

In Gallatin County, assessments currently stand at 33.26% of market value based on sales data from 2021 through 2023. The newly assigned multiplier applies to taxes due in 2025. Last year’s multiplier for Gallatin County was also set at 1.0000.

Before issuing the final assessment factor for this year, IDOR held a public hearing after releasing a tentative factor—also set at 1.0000—on May 7, 2025.

Each year, IDOR determines a county’s multiplier by comparing three years’ worth of sale prices for individual properties against their assessed values as determined by local officials. When average assessments align with one-third of market value over this period, the multiplier remains at one.

Harris clarified how these calculations affect taxpayers: "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)."

He added that changes in multipliers do not directly alter total property tax bills: "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."

Finally, Harris noted that an individual's share of taxes depends on their property's assessed value: "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."