Your assessment notice,in plain English.
Every fall, Kankakee County publishes a list of assessed values in the Daily Journal. It arrives full of numbers, township names and statute citations — and almost no explanation of what any of it means for the check you write next summer. Here is the whole thing, start to finish.
Dawn Olson, REALTOR®, SRES®, CRS · McColly Real Estate · Serving Kankakee County since 2005
2026 At a Glance
- January 1, 2026Valuation date — the snapshot your assessment is based on
- 2023–2025The three years of sales used to set values
- 33.33%Required level of assessment in Illinois
- September 9, 2026Publication date in the Daily Journal
- October 13, 2026Final deadline to file an assessment complaint
Your assessed value is not your home’s value
This is the single biggest source of confusion, and once it clicks, the rest of the notice makes sense.
Illinois does not tax your home at what it would sell for. By law, property outside Cook County is assessed at one-third of fair cash value — a required level of assessment of 33.33%.
So if the county believes your home is worth $270,000, your assessed value should land somewhere near $90,000. Seeing $90,000 on a notice for a home worth $270,000 is not an error. That is the system working the way it was designed.
The 30-second accuracy check. Take the total assessed value printed next to your parcel number and divide it by 0.3333. That result is what the county believes your home would sell for today.
If that number is noticeably higher than what your home would realistically bring on the open market, you may be over-assessed — and you have a limited window to say so. If it is lower, your assessment is working in your favor.
Where the numbers come from
Your township assessor looks at what comparable properties in your area actually sold for over a three-year window. For the 2026 assessment year, that window is 2023 through 2025. Those sales are compared against existing assessments to find the township’s median level of assessment — and that is where equalization factors come in.
How your tax bill is actually built
Five steps stand between the value of your home and the number on your bill. Most homeowners only ever see the last one.
Fair cash value
What the assessor believes your property would sell for, based on sales of comparable properties from 2023 through 2025.
Assessed value
One-third of that fair cash value. This is the figure published next to your parcel number in the notice.
Equalization factor
If a township’s assessments have drifted away from the 33.33% target, a multiplier is applied to every residential property in that township to bring it back in line.
Minus your exemptions
Homestead, senior, veteran and other exemptions are subtracted here. Equalized assessed value − exemptions = your taxable assessment.
Times the tax rate
Your taxable assessment is multiplied by the combined rate set by your schools, city, township, park district, library and other local bodies. That is your tax bill.
Worth knowing: your assessment is only half the equation. Local taxing bodies set the rates, and those rates are driven by their budgets. An assessment that stays flat can still produce a larger bill if the districts around you raise what they need to collect.
Equalization factors by township
These multipliers were applied to residential non-farm land and improvements, and to farm homesites and farm residences, to bring each township to the statutory 33.33% median.
| Township | Median Level of Assessment | Equalization Factor |
|---|---|---|
| Yellowhead | 30.94 | 1.0825 |
| Sumner | 30.94 | 1.0825 |
| Manteno | 32.09 | 1.0350 |
| Rockville | 32.09 | 1.0350 |
| Momence | 32.11 | 1.0000 |
| Ganeer | 32.93 | 1.0000 |
| Limestone | 31.68 | 1.0000 |
| Essex | 31.18 | 1.0550 |
| Pembroke | 31.18 | 1.0750 |
| St. Anne | 31.18 | 1.0775 |
| Aroma | 31.18 | 1.0700 |
| Otto | 31.18 | 1.0800 |
| Norton | 31.87 | 1.0100 |
| Bourbonnais | 31.86 | 1.0450 |
If a factor is the only thing that changed for you, you will not get a separate notice. The published notice states that assessments changed solely by the application of an equalization factor do not appear in the individual change list and do not generate an individual mailing. The factor still affects your bill.
Read the published notices yourself
These are the complete assessment publications from the Daily Journal, exactly as printed — the explanatory notice, the equalization factors, the assessor contacts, and the full parcel-by-parcel listing of assessment changes.
2026 Assessment Notice
Published September 9, 2026. Valuation date January 1, 2026, based on 2023–2025 sales. Includes the October 13, 2026 complaint deadline and the current township assessor directory.
Download the 2026 Notice2025 Assessment Notice
Published September 10, 2025. Valuation date January 1, 2025, based on 2022–2024 sales. Useful for comparing your parcel side by side and seeing exactly what moved.
Download the 2025 NoticeHow to use two years at once. Find your parcel number in both PDFs and compare the totals. A year-over-year jump that is much steeper than what homes around you actually did is the clearest signal that an appeal is worth a conversation. Your parcel number is printed on your tax bill and on the county’s property lookup at kankakeeil.devnetwedge.com.
Exemptions that reduce your taxable assessment
Exemptions come off your equalized assessed value before the tax rate is applied. Every one of these is applied for through the Chief County Assessment Office, not the Treasurer.
| Exemption | Reduction | Who qualifies |
|---|---|---|
| General Homestead | Up to $6,000 | Owner-occupied primary residence as of January 1 |
| Senior Citizens Homestead | Up to $5,000 | Age 65+, owner-occupied primary residence |
| Senior Assessment Freeze | Freezes your EAV | Age 65+ and within the state income limit; must be renewed annually |
| Persons with Disabilities | Up to $2,000 | Owner-occupied primary residence, with required certification |
| Veterans with Disabilities | Up to $2,500 – 100% | Owner-occupied primary residence; amount scales with VA rating |
| Returning Veterans | Up to $5,000 | Returned from active duty within the past year; apply within one year |
| Home Improvement | Up to $25,000 EAV | Shields the added value of an improvement from taxes for four years |
New owners, read this twice. Exemptions do not always follow a sale. If you bought in the past couple of years, confirm the General Homestead Exemption is actually on your parcel rather than assuming it carried over from the previous owner. One phone call to (815) 937-2945 settles it.
How to appeal your assessment
The process is free, it does not require an attorney, and the county publishes a deadline you cannot miss.
Call your township assessor first
Most disputes end here. Ask them to walk you through the comparable sales they used and check the property record for errors in square footage, bedroom and bath count, basement finish or lot size. A wrong detail on file is the most common and most fixable problem.
Gather your evidence
Recent sales of genuinely similar homes nearby, a current appraisal, photos of condition issues, or the assessments of comparable neighboring properties if the issue is uniformity rather than value.
File with the Board of Review
You need a separate complaint form for each parcel you are appealing, and everything goes in duplicate. Both documents are below — you can also pick them up at your township assessor’s office or at the Chief County Assessment Office, 189 East Court Street in Kankakee.
File by October 13, 2026
After that date, the Board of Review is prohibited by law from accepting assessment complaints for this assessment year. There is no extension and no exception — the next opportunity is a full year away.
Two grounds for an appeal. You can argue that the fair cash value the county assigned is simply wrong, or that your equalized assessed value is out of line with comparable properties in the same neighborhood even if the value looks defensible. The second argument — uniformity — is the one most homeowners never think to make.
Your township assessor
Questions about the valuation itself go to your township assessor. These are the contacts as published in the 2026 notice. On a phone, tap a number to call.
| Township | Assessor | Office | Phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowhead & Sumner | Kim Scanlan, CIAO | 113 E Curtis St, Grant Park | (815) 465-6426 |
| Manteno & Rockville | Lois Meyer, CIAO | 85 N. Main St, Manteno | (815) 468-3996 |
| Momence | Kelly Horn, CIAO | 105 E. 2nd St, Momence | (815) 472-2924 |
| Ganeer | Lorna Osborne, CIAO | 120 W. Washington, Momence | (815) 472-6462 |
| Limestone | Lorna Osborne, CIAO | 5030 W Route 17, Kankakee | (779) 801-4118 |
| Aroma | Lorna Osborne, CIAO | 402 E 2nd St, Aroma Park | (815) 263-5264 |
| Essex & Pembroke | Don St Germaine, CIAO | 4714-A N 12000 W Rd, Bonfield | (815) 354-2822 |
| St. Anne | Erich Blair, CIAO | 189 E Court St, Kankakee | (815) 937-2945 |
| Otto | William Surprenant, CIAO | 860 E 4000 S Rd, Kankakee | (815) 932-4923 |
| Norton | Dan Koehne Sr, CIAO | 300 E Kankakee Ave, Herscher | (815) 426-2809 |
| Bourbonnais | Douglas Anderson, CIAO | 1350 Armour Rd, Bourbonnais | (815) 935-1519 |
Who handles what
Calling the right office the first time saves an afternoon.
Township Assessor
Sets your property’s value and keeps the property record card. Start here for anything about the assessment itself.
County Assessment Office
Exemptions, complaint forms and the Board of Review. 189 E. Court St, Kankakee
(815) 937-2945
County Treasurer
Mails the bills and collects payment, including installment plans. 189 E. Court St, Kankakee
(815) 937-2960
County Clerk
Calculates the final tax rates once every taxing district has filed its levy.
When the bill actually arrives. Kankakee County bills are typically mailed in the second half of May, with the first installment due in late June and the second in early September. The taxes you pay in a given year are based on the prior year’s assessment — which is why the notice you are reading now affects the bill you receive next year, not the one sitting on your counter. Confirm current dates with the Treasurer at kankakeecountytreasurer.gov.
Not sure what your home would actually sell for?
That is the number your whole assessment rests on — and it is the one I work with every day. I will pull the recent comparable sales for your street and tell you straight whether your assessment looks reasonable. No cost, no pressure, no obligation to list anything.
815-735-9594