The 2022 payable 2023 tax bills will be mailed out to the taxpayers of White County very soon. You will notice that your assessed value has been increased by a 5.14 % equalizer. This does not necessarily mean your tax bill will increase by that much because there is considerably more assessed value in the county this year. We have completed our portion of the tax cycle and it is now in the hands of the county clerk to process their part. From there it will go to the Treasurer and the tax bills will be issued.
The reason for the equalizer being applied is based on real estate sales for the years of 2019-2020-2021. When a parcel of real estate sells for a certain dollar amount, that figure is set as it’s fair cash value. Per Illinois statute, the assessed value of that property for taxable purposes, should be .3333 of the fair cash value. The Illinois Department of Revenue monitors every real estate sale each year and each good sale will receive a sales ratio and if the median of the sales ratio study is not at the .3333 level, there is an equalization factor applied to bring it to that level. For the assessment year of 2022 the sales from those three prior years 2019-2020-2021 are figured and averaged. The county average was 31.70 even after the equalization that I put on. One township had a sales ratio of less than 24. That would by itself require a 39% equalization. But fortunately, all the townships for the 3 years are averaged together and that came in at a county level of 31.70 requiring a 5.14 to achieve 33.33. From what I have seen while monitoring the 2022 sales, the sales ratios are not any better.
If you have noticed, the real estate market has been unbelievably high the past few years and the reassessments have been unable to keep up with them. An equalizer is not a fair way to handle the problem because it raises everyone’s assessment whether it’s needed or not. If one person is not paying his fair share, it puts the burden on everyone else.
It’s my job as Supervisor of Assessments to try to bring equity to the burden of paying property taxes. It is not a political partisan issue. It is one of being sure that all are treated the same. If you look at your fair cash value listed on your tax bill and feel that is an appropriate figure, should you decide to sell, then you are paying your fair share. If you would ask a much higher price, then that is where our problem lies.
In the near future, there will be a necessity for many reassessments. I ask for your patience and your cooperation as we try to make the burden of property tax more equitable. We will be sending out many letters requesting information to help us with the reassessment process and also asking permission for outside only measurements and photos. No one wants to pay more taxes, but equalization is not the answer. Again, I thank you for your cooperation.
As always, I like to remind taxpayers that our property taxes are a local tax: raised here and spent here.
