Tax bills are mailed out in May each year. The first installment is due 30 days after the bill is mailed and the second installment is due September 1 (unless that falls on a weekend or Labor Day in which case it would be the first working day after that).

Real estate taxes are billed and collected a year behind. In the calendar year 2024, we will be paying real estate taxes for the 2023 year.

Property owners are responsible for ensuring their real estate taxes are paid, even if they are new owners. When buying or selling a house, please check with your title company to ensure who is responsible for the payment of taxes. New property owners may contact the Macon County Treasurer’s office at (217) 424-1426 to request a duplicate tax bill. New owners should also complete a change of address form for tax bill mailing and submit to the Treasurer by March 15. A transfer of deed through the Recorder’s Office specifies a change of address, but there is a time lag between the filing of the deed and the copy coming to the Treasurer’s Office. A change of address form is available on this website.

Many property owners’ taxes are paid from their escrow with their mortgage company. Upon your written direction, we will send the bill directly to the mortgage company. You should verify with your mortgage company if they will be paying the tax bill or if it is up to you. This will avoid a duplicate payment situation or the taxes not being paid at all.

*When choosing where your tax bill is to be mailed, please remember all notices of delinquent unpaid taxes will also be sent to that address as well.

When looking at your tax bill:

Owner & Location should represent the owner as per the deed, as well as the physical location of the property.

Permanent index number is assigned by the supervisor of assessments office and identifies your property in relationship with the township and aerial mapping

Legal Description is the legal description of your property-sometimes shortened to fit onto the tax bill.

Location of Property should detail the physical location of the property, if available

Address area to left of property description is the name and address used for mailing of the tax bill as directed by the property owner (any notice of delinquency will also be sent to this name and address)

Valuation & Exemption Boxes contains information regarding assessed value, exemptions in effect for this property, state factor, & net taxable value. Questions regarding assessed value should be directed to the township assessor. Questions regarding Exemptions should be directed to the Supervisor of Assessments. Taxable Value is the Assessed Value minus the Exemptions. This is used along with the tax rate to calculate your bill. The 1977 value box is used in determining homestead exemption amount. The Fair Market Value is also listed in this box.

Tax Body and Rate Section lists each taxing district and their current and prior year tax rates. You will notice that many taxing districts have a second entry for IMRF, Medicare, Social Security. This is required by state statute to be broken out separately by district. This represents the “Employer” share which is paid on behalf of each employee covered. As an employer, the taxing districts must pay their portion of these benefits just as they must pay the employee to work for them. Each Employee also pays their share of these benefits.

Tear-Off Coupons on the bottom, one for each installment. A coupon must accompany each tax payment made. Due dates are listed on the coupons. Payments made after the due date will require additional payment of penalty. You should call the Treasurer’s office to ascertain the penalty amount.

If there are prior unpaid taxes, it will appear in the box on the payment coupon.

Payments can be made in several ways

In person – at the Macon County Treasurer’s Office, 141 S Main Street Room 302 during regular business hours of 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. We accept cash, money order, cashier’s check and certified check. We also take Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover Credit and Debit cards. Please note an additional convenience fee will be added for using credit/debit cards. The Treasurer’s Office also accepts personal checks up to 45 days before annual tax sale date. A fee of $35 is charged for checks returned by the bank for any reason.

By mail – These payments should be in the form of personal check, cashiers or certified check. Do not send cash through the mail. We do not process credit card payments by mail or phone in our office. (See E-Pay option below for online and telephone payments). Please note we do not accept personal checks within the last 45 days before the annual tax sale.

Convenient 24 hour Drop Box – payments may be deposited in the drop box located at the north end of the County Office Building at 141 S. Main. DO NOT use the drop box at the courthouse. Late payments will not be accepted in the dropbox and must be paid in the Treasurer’s Office only.

Most Macon County Banks and Credit Unions – accept on-time tax payments for their customers. Payment may be made during regular lobby hours. In many cases, this allows the taxpayer more flexible times for payment. You must have your payment coupon. You cannot use the banks or credit unions to pay overdue tax bills. Late payments must be made at the Treasurer’s Office only.

Why is there an additional convenience fee added to credit/debit transactions?

Normally when you use your card to make a purchase, the merchant has to give approximately 3% of your payment to the credit card company as a fee. Because we are a governmental body, we cannot take the percentage discount that merchants take to accept your credit card. By law, we must collect the entire amount and distribute that money to the taxing districts. The convenience fees will be posted in our office and on the web site once we know what they are for the year.

This convenience fee is not kept by the Macon County Treasurer or the Illinois State Treasurer; it goes to the credit card company.

In Illinois, Mobile homes are billed as “Mobile Home Privilege Tax”. The computation of Mobile Home Tax differs from Real Estate Tax. Tax bills are issued to mobile home owners based on the age and square footage of the mobile home.

Mobile home bills are mailed to the owners in April. The owner has 60 days to pay the tax, which is done in only one installment. If after 60 days the tax remains unpaid, a penalty of $25.00 per month (or portion thereof) up to $100 will be assessed.

Mobile homes on which taxes are not paid are subject to either going through the tax sale procedure or filing liens against the mobile home. When liens are filed, additional fees are incurred, and the liens follow the owner. Many times if a person tries to obtain a loan the mobile home tax lien will surface and will have to be paid before the loan is issued.

When selling a mobile home, the owner must obtain a tax certification from the County Treasurer before the title can be transferred. In order to obtain the tax certification, all taxes must be paid (including the current year). A $10 fee is charged for a Tax Certification. A copy of the last issued title for the mobile home must be brought to the Treasurer for research before the tax certification can be issued. We must search back to the day the title was issued or 10 years back from the current date. You may be asked to leave the copy of the title with us for research, and we will contact you when we have completed our search.

If a mobile home is being moved more than one mile, a tax certification and moving permit must be obtained by the County Treasurer. Again, a copy of the title must be submitted for research of back taxes. All taxes must be paid (including the current year) before a moving permit will be issued. A $10 fee is charged for a Tax Certification. There is a fee of $2.00 for a moving permit.

When a mobile home is purchased a mobile home registration must be filed with the Supervisor of Assessments within 30 days. The Supervisor of Assessments also maintains the record of where the Mobile Home Tax bill is to be mailed.

By Illinois State Law, failure to receive a tax bill or receiving a bill late, for any reason, does not relieve the taxpayer from taxes or late penalties. If you do not receive a tax bill, you should contact the Treasurer’s Office.

You will only receive one tax bill per year. The bill has two payment coupons. Separate bills are NOT mailed for the second installment.

Illinois Statutes require 1 ½% per month (or part of the month) penalty be assessed for payments made after the due date. If taxes are not paid after the second installment date, in addition to the penalty, additional fees may be added. Even if the payment is made one day late, the 1 ½% penalty applies.

Once the Treasurer’s Office has finished posting all payments made for the second installment, in accordance with State Law, a delinquent notice will be mailed to the name and address the tax bill was mailed for each delinquent property. A cost of $10 is added to the taxes and penalty to offset the cost of mailing the notice by certified mail and newspaper publication. The Treasurer must also publish a list of the owner’s name, parcel number, and amount due in a newspaper in the county. The purpose of the publication is not to embarrass the owner, but to notify the owner of delinquent tax.

The Treasurer is required by law to apply to the court and sell any unpaid taxes at the annual tax sale. At the tax sale a group of bidders called “tax buyers” compete to purchase the taxes (not the property) in exchange for a certificate of tax purchased (similar to a lien). At the tax sale, the tax buyers are bidding an interest percentage beginning at 9% and bidding downward. The tax buyer bidding the least amount of interest is awarded the bid.

After the tax sale, the property owner has a period of time to “redeem” the taxes on their property. The Statute provides for different redemption periods according to use. An owner-occupied property is usually given at least 30, but not more than 36 months to redeem the taxes. Redemption of sold taxes takes place in the County Clerk’s Office. The redemption amount would include the original amount of taxes sold, penalty, publication cost, tax sale costs, any other costs incurred by the tax buyer and interest. Interest is bid up to 9% compounded every six months.

Effective March 1st, 2022, the following will be charged for Treasurers Office documents:

Duplicate Tax Bill for property owner: $1.00
              o Proof of ownership required

Tax bill for non – property owner: $5.00
              o Escrow Agent
              o Other

 Statement of Tax Balance (duplicate receipt of payment): $1.00