Information on proposed changes to the Illinois Farmland Assessment Law
Last updated May 14, 2013
The Farmland Assessment Law in Illinois is critical to the solvency of Illinois' number one industry... agriculture.
The Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) has sought legislation (HB 2651) to change the farmland assessment law, which the Illinois Farm Bureau supports, to maintain the integrity of the law. The Wayne County Farm Bureau, however, does not support the amendment.
Here is a summary of IDOR's amendment (produced by IFB)
IDOR's plan would shift the annual cap of 10% from a parcel's individual soil productivity index (PI) to the media cropped soil for the entire state. The median cropped soil has a PI of 111. The impact of this change would allow the 2014 Certified Values to increase or decrease 10% of PI 111's 2013 Certified Value.
The Illinois Farm Bureau has always supported the farmland assessment process as a a fair and equitable means of assessing farmland. Making this change will maintain the fair and equitable assessment of farmland. If the change is not made, the integrity of the farmland assessment could come into question, possibly threatening the entire law.
You can follow the progress of this legislation, as well as read the bill, by following this link to the Illinois General Assembly page on HB 2651.
We have put together articles and resources to help you better understand the law, as well as how to figure your farmland property taxes.
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RESOURCES
(This was the handout we provided at the annual meeting on March 15)
This resource summarizes the basics of FAL, and gives an example of how to use a property tax record to calculate your property taxes.
These are the questions we most often receive on Farmland Assessment.
Use this resource to identify which soil types you have on your parcel.
Use this resource to identify the productivity index of each soil type on your parcel.
The Illinois Department of Revenue releases this document every year. County Assessors use the certified values of each productivity index to calculate your property tax.
This table details the tax levy, tax rate, maximum tax rate, and tax extension by individual fund for each taxing district within the county. The “Levy” is the amount of money to be raised from property taxes to support the operating needs of the taxing district during the year. The “Rate” is the amount of tax due stated in terms of percentage of the tax base. The tax rate percentage is derived by dividing the levy for a fund by the equalized assessed value (EAV) for the taxing district. Some funds have a statutory maximum rate that cannot be exceeded. The “Fund Extension” is the amount of taxes billed for each taxing district. The county clerk extends taxes by multiplying EAV by tax rate for each fund. The sum of the fund levies, rates, and extensions are listed following each taxing district.
ARTICLES
Wayne County Farm Bureau - Fairfield, IL
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