Change in property assessments could hit rural landowners

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SPRINGFIELD (AP) - Some rural landowners in Illinois might get higher property tax bills this year, after state officials determined that their assessments have been artificially low for years. But a group of downstate legislators say they want the system to remain unchanged so property owners don't get hit with higher taxes. In some counties, wooded sections of properties have been valued too low for more than two decades, Illinois Department of Revenue spokesman Mike Klemens said. Assessors in those counties have not followed changes in valuation rules made under a 1980 Illinois law. The state late last year notified county officials of the proper way to value wooded parcels - tracts not used for farming or timber but that stand alone or abut farmland. Many assessors had categorized those tracts as &#8220idle” or &#8220waste farmland” and assigned it a much lower value. But under state rules they are deemed &#8220real property” and should be valued at the higher, residential rate, Klemens said. Taxpayers &#8220got a break for a long time,” he said, adding that the state is striving for uniform property valuations, rather than extra revenue. State and county officials are unsure how many properties are affected or how much bills could increase after assessors change the rates. Linda Mensing, the assessor for Clinton County, said she expects the change will produce higher tax bills for nearly half of that county's taxpayers. &#8220I don't want these people to pay any more property taxes,” said state Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Greenville, one of several downstate lawmakers sponsoring legislation to keep the system the same or blunt the effect of valuation changes. Stephens and state Rep. Kurt Granberg, D-Carlyle, have introduced similar bills aimed at keeping property values on wooded tracts near their current rates. The bill would allow counties to assess wooded land based on the value of the timber it could produce - which would keep taxes near their current rates - or assign a value of $500 per acre. Taxes would be based on the lesser of the two amounts. Another bill sponsored by state Rep. Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville, would require county assessors to wait a year before making the change.