Treasurer

The County Treasurer has the responsibility to receive, invest and distribute the revenue and public monies of the county. This office also keeps accounts of all monies paid out. Payments must be specifically authorized by law or by the County Board.

It is the duty of the County Treasurer to invest and reinvest any funds that are not used within 30 days. The County’s money is invested in banks in Effingham County and State of Illinois Treasurer’s Illinois Funds Program. Investment objectives are safety of principal, liquidity and maximum rate of return. Each month the Treasurer reports to the County Board the amount of money invested in banks that are listed by account and type of investment.

The County Collector prepares bills and receipts for the purpose of tax collection of real estate, drainage and mobile home taxes within the county.

Upon receipt of the tax monies the County Collector proceeds to disburse these funds to the various taxing districts. Tax collection funds are kept in interest bearing account. The interest earned on these accounts is disbursed to the various taxing districts proportional to the amount of tax collected for them. The County Collector holds a tax sale at the end of every tax year to sell the tax on every parcel that remains unpaid.

Some of the specific duties and responsibilities are as follows:

• The treasurer also acts as the treasurer for the Emergency System Board 911.
• The treasurer assists senior citizens in filing for Real Estate Tax Deferral. The Treasurer reviews and grants the tax deferral to those who meet the requirements. Information pertaining to approval deferrals is them reported to the Illinois Department of Revenue.
• The treasurer maintains tax records from the year 1858 and makes them available to the public for researching historical tax data.
• The treasurer also makes available County tax records for use by tax searchers and other concerned parties.

Generally, the property tax cycle is a two-year cycle, therefore, the tax that is paid in the current year is for the previous year. During the first year, property is assigned a value that reflects its value as of January 1 of that year. (For farm acreage and farm buildings, a certification and review procedure is initiated more than nine months before the assessment process begins.) During the second year, the tax bills are calculated and mailed and payments are distributed to local taxing districts.

This two-year cycle can be divided into six steps.

1. Assessment – All property is discovered, listed, and appraised so that values for property tax purposes can be determined. Local assessing officials determine most property values; the local county board of review and the Illinois Department of Revenue also have some assessment responsibilities. The chief county assessment officer ensures that assessment levels are uniform and at the legal assessment level by applying a uniform percentage increase or decrease to all assessments in the jurisdiction (i.e. assessments are “equalized”).
2. Review of assessment decisions – County boards of review determine whether local assessing officials have calculated assessed values correctly, equalize assessments within the county, assess any property that was omitted, decide if homestead exemptions should be granted, and review non-homestead exemptions applications. Property owners and local taxing districts may appeal unfair tax assessments to their local county boards of review and, if the owner is dissatisfied with the board’s decision, the State Property Tax Appeal Board or circuit court.
3. State equalization – The Illinois Department of Revenue equalizes assessments among counties and issues a state equalization factor for each county.
4. Levy – Taxing districts determine the amount of revenue that they need to raise from property taxes, hold any required public Truth-in Taxation hearings, and certify levies to the county clerk.
5. Extension – The county clerk applies the state equalization factor, calculates the tax rate needed to produce the amount of revenues each taxing district may levy legally, apportions the levy among the properties in a taxing district according to their equalized assessed values so that tax bills can be computed, abates taxes as directed by taxing districts, and prepares books for the county collector.
6. Collections and distributions – Once the previous five steps are completed, the county collector prepares tax bills, receives property tax payments from property owners, distributes taxes to the local government taxing districts that levied them, and administers sales of liens on real estate parcels due to nonpayment taxes.

“TREASURER 9” NINE MONTH PREPAYMENT PLAN

The County Treasurer’s office offers a program that allows you to make monthly payments to prepay next year’s real estate tax. TREASURER “9” is a prepayment plan allowing you to prepay your taxes over a nine month period. The program currently runs January thru August but is subject to change, depending on the timing of the tax cycle. This plan is optional and there is no cost to participate.

• Anyone can sign up for the prepayment plan providing you have no delinquent taxes due.
• Deadline for signing up for the program is October 15th. The payments currently run January thru August but the program’s schedule is subject to change, depending on the timing of the tax cycle.
• You will still receive a regular tax bill in the mail. It will reflect any payments you have made for the past months while on the prepayment plan.
• Your payments will be based on the most recent tax amount of your property.
• After you sign up, you will be mailed a letter confirming your participation in the program, a page containing eight coupons for scheduled payments and envelopes to use when mailing your payments (if you choose to pay by check), or a scheduled withdrawal amounts and dates (if you choose automatic withdrawal from your bank account). Your ninth payment amount will be shown as the balance due with the mailing of your tax bill.
• Monthly payments will be due by the 15th of each month.
• Taxpayers who complete their payments through the prepayment plan are automatically renewed on the plan for the following year. If you decide you do not want to continue with the plan, please call 217-342-6844 and let us know.

If you wish to sign up for TREASURER “9”, please contact the Treasurer’s Office at 217-342-6844 to request a sign up sheet. TREASURER “9” is geared toward those on a fixed income to ease the burden of paying their real estate taxes but is available to all property owners.

Illinois State Statutes 35ILCS200 requires the County Collector to sell any taxes that have not been paid in full.  The annual tax sale for the 2023 due and payable in 2024 delinquent taxes will be on December 19, 2024 at 11:00 AM (CDT) in the North room on the 1st floor in the Effingham County Office Building, 101 N Fourth St., Effingham, IL.  The tax buyer must complete a registration form in writing 10 business days prior to the tax sale.  Registrations will be accepted in the Treasurer’s Office until 4:00 PM on Wednesday, December 4, 2024.  A registration fee of $250.00 must be paid at the time of registration.  If you register and do not attend the sale the $250.00 will be forfeited to the County.  The tax buyer must sign in on the date of the sale in the County Treasurer’s office prior to the start of the sale.

Tax Buyer Registration Form

Keep in mind this is the sale of unpaid taxes, not properties.

If unpaid taxes have been sold, the County Clerk’s office can provide you with an “Estimate of Redemption”, detailing the amount necessary to redeem (or pay) the delinquent tax amount.  Contact the County Clerk’s office at 217-342-6535 for additional information.

Our office collects and distributes real estate, drainage, mobile home and railroad taxes to 80+ taxing districts.  We will also distribute the interest earned on the funds collected in connection with the taxes.  This section of our website will allow you to view the distribution of the Effingham County real estate, drainage, mobile home and railroad taxes and the interest earned.

To search for a specific taxing district, click on the link below.  After the link opens up, simultaneously hold the “Ctrl” and “F” key down on your keyboard, a search box will pop up.  Enter a short description of the taxing district you are looking for, i.e. “Mason”.  You can use the up and down arrows to view taxing districts related to Mason.

2022 TAX YEAR

2022 Tax Year Settlement Sheet – 1st Distribution

2022 Tax Year Settlement Sheet – 2nd Distribution

2022 Tax Year Settlement Sheets – Final Distribution

2023 TAX YEAR

2023 Tax Year Settlement Sheet – 1st Distribution

2023 Tax Year Settlement Sheets – 2nd Distribution