[authors: Ares G. Dalianis and Scott R. Metcalf]
The Illinois Department of Revenue has released the final 2011 Cook County equalization factor. The factor for 2011 is 2.9706. The press release from the Department of Revenue is available here.
The preliminary multiplier, which was released in March prior to certification of the assessments by the Board of Review was 2.8983. Prior year equalization factors are summarized below.
|
Tax Year
|
Tentative Multiplier
|
Final Multiplier
|
|
2004
|
2.5023
|
2.5757
|
|
2005
|
2.6771
|
2.7320
|
|
2006
|
2.6244
|
2.7076
|
|
2007
|
2.7500
|
2.8439
|
|
2008
|
2.9058
|
2.9786
|
|
2009
|
3.1062
|
3.3701
|
|
2010
|
3.1773
|
3.3000
|
|
2011
|
2.8983
|
2.9706
|
The Property Tax Code requires the Department to issue a multiplier that, when applied to the assessed value of all property in a county (except for specially assessed property such as farmland), will result in the aggregate assessed value of property in the County being 33.33% of fair cash value. This equalization of assessed values is accomplished by comparing recorded sales prices to assessed values for the three prior years.
The release of the multiplier is earlier than in past years. This is the result of the successful efforts by the Cook County Assessor and the Cook County Board of Review to complete their work much earlier than in the past. This means that, barring unforeseen events, property tax bills will likely be on time for the first time in decades. Bills will likely be in the mail July 1 with a due date of August 1.
