•March 3, 2021•
Moultrie County has been issued a final property assessment equalization factor of 1.0000, according to David Harris, Director of the Illinois Department of Revenue.
The property assessment equalization factor, often called the “multiplier”, is the method used to achieve uniform property assessments among counties, as required by law. This equalization is particularly important because some of the state’s 6,600 local taxing districts overlap into two or more counties (e.g. school districts, junior college districts, fire protection districts). If there were no equalization among counties, substantial inequities among taxpayers with comparable properties would result.
Under a law passed in 1975, property in Illinois should be assessed at one-third (1/3) of its market value. Farm property is assessed differently, with farm homesites and dwellings subject to regular assessing and equalization procedures, but with farmland assessed at one-third of its agriculture economic value. Farmland is not subject to the state equalization factor.
Assessments in Moultrie County are at 33.24 percent of market value, based on sales of properties in 2017, 2018, and 2019. Read More

•March 3, 2021•
The Court Reporting Technology Degree program is a new special admission program at Lake Land College beginning Fall 2021. The introduction of the program follows the increased high demand for court reporting and closed-captioning professionals throughout the nation.
Lake Land College business faculty worked closely with area court reporters to create the degree program, which will train students for careers in the judicial setting as either official or freelance court reporters. The program also provides students with the option to attain a captioning specialization, which prepares students for careers providing captioning for broadcast television and internet programs and working with the deaf or hard-of-hearing population by providing an accurate word-for-word text translation in education, civic and corporate settings. Read More

25 Years Ago This Week

An estimated 1,500 people gathered to see Sullivan’s new $5.6 million elementary school for the first time. The ceremony was capped by the official presentation of the school by the builders-- Jim Graham of Graham, O’Shea & Hyde Architects and Tim Erickson of Williams Brothers Construction-- to Elementary Principal Rita Florey and six students representing the grade levels at the new school. The school district plans on moving into the new facility March 5, less than a year from the beginning of construction. The $5,650,000 total cost includes furniture, equipment, landscaping, site development, fees and all construction costs. The school contains 24 regular classrooms and seven specialized classrooms. Read More

•February 24, 2021•
Stress is a fact of life for farmers. Financial problems, uncertain market prices, farm transfer issues, production challenges, isolation and more are common sources of worry for those in the agriculture business and their families who are also more at risk since agriculture ranks among the most hazardous industries.
Chronic stress can take a huge toll on your physical and mental health. Learn to identify common stressors, recognize symptoms, and access practical management tools and techniques to reduce the effects of unwanted stress with the Weathering the Storm in Agriculture: How to Cultivate a Productive Mindset webinar. Read More

•February 24, 2021•
The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) today reminded residential and business customers that, beginning February 27, 2021, mandatory dialing will occur where all local calls made within the Illinois 217 Area Code will have to be placed using the 10-digit telephone number (area code + the 7-digit telephone number). That day, the 447 area code will be added as an overlay to the region currently served by area code 217 to ensure a continuing supply of telephone numbers for the area. An overlay is the addition of another area code (447) to the same geographic region served by an existing area code (217).
The ICC ordered an area code overlay for the 217 Area Code on August 15, 2006, to be implemented upon the exhaust of available, unassigned 217 prefixes. An overlay does not require customers to change their existing area code or telephone number. Read More