By AP/KWMU
Springfield, Ill. – Some rural landowners in southern Illinois might get higher property tax bills this year.
That's because state officials have determined their assessments have been artificially low for years.
The state Revenue Department says some wooded sections of properties in rural counties have been valued too low for more than two decades. Assessors in those counties have not followed changes in valuation rules made under a 1980 Illinois law.
The state late last year notified county officials of the proper way to value wooded parcels. The Assessor of Clinton County, for example, says she expects the change will produce higher tax bills for nearly half of the county's taxpayers.
A group of downstate lawmakers say they want the system to remain unchanged so property owners don't get hit with higher taxes.