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My clients who bought and sold property last year are asking about property taxes and when to pay them.

HOW PROPERTY TAXES WORK IN ILLINOIS

We pay our taxes in arrears, which means that as a property owner, you will pay your 2025 property tax this year. Your 2026 property tax won’t be paid until 2027. Usually, you receive your tax bill around June or July. So, this June, you’ll receive a bill for your 2025 property taxes. You can pay in full or use the options to pay over 4 months.

Now, if you have a mortgage, you have likely have been paying extra on your monthly home loan toward the property taxes. Those extra funds are put into an escrow account. Remember, an escrow account is your money held by someone else. In this case, the mortgage company. When the bill is mailed in June, you receive a copy. Don’t pay it if you have escrow. Your mortgage company receives a copy too. They should pay it. Always verify that the bill has been paid.

For example, you can use the Madison County Site to look up taxes here: https://madisonil.devnetwedge.com/

or the St. Clair County Site to look up taxes here: https://stclairil.devnetwedge.com/


I BOUGHT A HOUSE LAST YEAR, HOW MUCH DO I OWE IN TAXES

This is a very common question and thank goodness, the real estate process has a very simple solution. Let’s take a simple case where Johnny and Suzy Lincoln purchased a home and closed on June 30, 2025. And, for the example, let’s say taxes are $3,000 for the year. It doesn’t seem fair if Johnny and Suzy receive a bill for $3,000 in June. After all, they only lived in the house for 6 months. Well, here is what happens.

At closing, the sellers credit Johnny and Suzy 6 months or $1,500. In June the new home owners will pay the $3,000 or, as noted above, their mortgage company will. Each party, seller and buyer paid for their portion of the year. If the closing had been in March, they received about 1/4 or $750. If the closing had been in November, then 11/12 or about $2,750. The credit is prorated to the day.

All of the calculations are taken care of by the title company. Besides the current year, they will also look at the last year. In the case above, the title company verified that the 2024 taxes had been paid. This, of course, is a little tricky with a January or February closing.

I SOLD A HOUSE LAST YEAR, HOW MUCH DO I OWE IN TAXES:

Nothing! You squared up at closing.


If you ever have questions about a transaction give me a ring or reach out to your title company. They will have the answers.

thanks,

George Sykes, Managing Broker, Worth Clark Realty 618-531-4000