Change in property assessments could hit rural landowners

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