Does an equalization factor automatically increase or decrease taxes?

No.

Taxes are increased or decreased by:

  1. An increase or decrease in a levy request (amount of dollars) requested by a taxing district over or under the amount of tax dollars the district received the prior year.
  2. A shifting of the increase or decrease in the amount of dollars requested by a district from one taxpayer to another because of exemptions, TIFs, and other special tax treatments established by State Law.

Simplified example - if taxing district does not request an increase or decrease in the amount of dollars from the prior year.

Calculate Tax Rate

                                2015/Pay 2016     2016 Factor     2016/Pay 2017
District
Equalized Assessed Value         74,000,000     ×     1.10   =     81,400,000

District Levy ($'s Asked For)        90,000                           90,000

Tax Rate = Levy/Value           .00121622                         .00110565

When Equalized Assessed Value goes up and Levy (money asked for by the District stays the same) the Tax Rate goes down accordingly and the taxpayer does not see an increase in taxes.

How Individual Taxpayer would be affected.

Individual Taxpayer

Individual Assessed Value            50,000     ×     1.10   =         55,000
×                               ×
Tax Rate .00121622 .00110565

Tax Bill                            $60.81                             $60.81

Show All Answers

1. What is an equalization factor (multiplier)?
2. Why does state law require equalization factors?
3. Who does these studies?
4. What information is used for these studies?
5. What years sales will be used for 2016 assessments?
6. What factors influence equalization factors (multipliers)?
7. What happens if township equalization factors (multipliers) are not applied at the county level?
8. Does an equalization factor automatically increase or decrease taxes?
9. Does an increase in equalization factor usually result in an increase in an individual’s tax bill?
10. How do I know if an equalization factor has been applied to my property?
11. Does farm land receive a multiplier based on sales of farm property?
12. If I have additional questions?