Supervisor of Assessments

The property tax is the largest single tax in Illinois, and is a major source of tax revenue for local government taxing districts.  Every person doing business in Illinois is affected by property taxes - whether by paying the tax or receiving services or benefits that are paid for by property taxes.

     -  Owners of real property (like a house, land, commercial or industrial buildings) pay property taxes directly.  People who do not own real property most likely pay the tax indirectly, perhaps in the form of rent to a landlord.

      -  Anyone who attends public school, drives on roads or streets, uses the local library, has police protection, has fire protection services or benefits from county services, receives services paid for, at least in part, by property taxes.

Property tax is a tax that is based on a property's value.  It is sometimes call an "ad valorem" tax, which means "according to value."  The more valuable your property is, the higher amount of taxes you will pay.  Whether you plan to sell your property or not, it is our job to fairly estimate its overall market value for assessment purposes and that you pay your fair share of the property tax burden.

The property tax is a local tax imposed by local government taxing districts (e.g., school districts, municipalities, counties) and administered by local officials (e.g., township assessors, chief county assessment officers, local boards of review, county collectors).  Property taxes are collected and spent at the local level.  Illinois does not have a state property tax.  When Illinois became a state in 1818, the Illinois Constitution allowed the state and local taxing districts to tax property in direct proportion to its value.  The last year the State of Illinois imposed real estate taxes was in 1932.  Since then, property tax has been imposed by local government taxing districts only.

Property can be divided into two classes - real and person.

     -  Real property is land and any permanent improvements.  Examples include buildings, fences, landscaping, driveways, sewers or drains.

      -  Personal property is all property that is not real property.  Personal property includes automobiles, livestock, money and furniture.

Only real property is taxed in Illinois.  The 1970 Illinois Constitution directed the legislature to abolish personal property taxes and replace the revenue lost by local government taxing districts, including school districts.  Corporations, partnerships, limited partnerships, joint ventures and similar entities continue to pay taxes on personal property until 1979.  These business entities now pay a replacement tax on income and invested capital to the state, which then distributes these monies to the local government taxing districts in proportion to the amount received from the personal property tax for the 1977 tax year (1976 for Cook County).

More information about the Property Tax System in Illinois can be found at the following link:

     -  Illinois Property Tax System

Mobile Home Local Service Tax Information

Public Act 96-1477 (House Bill 6241) took effect on January 1, 2011. The Public Act reads that a mobile home or manufactured home taxed under the Mobile Home Local Services Tax or as it is called the Privileged tax, continues to be taxed under that Act until the home is:

1) Sold
2) Transferred or 
3) Relocated to another parcel outside a mobile home park

If any of these three events occur, then the mobile or manufactured home must be assessed as real property. The new Act goes on to say that a mobile or manufactured home located outside a mobile home park assessed as real property on January 1, 2011, continues to be assessed as real property after January 1, 2011. If a mobile or manufactured home is assessed as real property on January 1, 2011, and subsequently is moved to a mobile home park, it no longer is assessed as real property; instead, it is taxed under the Mobile Home Local Services Tax Act. To sum it up basically what this says is that mobile and manufactured homes not in mobile home parks will now be taxed as real property. For more information regarding the Act please refer to the General Assembly’s web site.

Currently the Menard County Treasurer is responsible for the administration and collection of Mobile Home taxes.