FAQs
FAQs
The normal office hours are Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On major holidays the office is closed.
Holiday closures for the remainder of 2022:
Monday, May 30
Monday, June 20
Monday, July 4
Monday, September 5
Monday, October 10
Tuesday, November 8
Friday, November 11
Thursday-Friday, November 24-25
Friday, December 23
Monday, December 26
Mail your tax bill and payment to:
Stephenson County Collector
50 W. Douglas St., Suite 503
Freeport, IL 61032
You may pay in person at Stephenson County Treasurer & Collector's office, located at
Stewart Centre
50 W. Douglas St., Suite 503
(fifth floor)
Freeport, IL 61032
For your convenience, most banks in Stephenson County can accept property tax payments. Fifth Third Bank cannot accept tax payments and neither can credit unions.
Fill out the online forms at GovPayNet.
Yes, as long as the postmark is made by the post office, and not by a metered postal machine, because the machine's date can be altered. The payment must be dated by midnight of the due date in order to avoid penalty costs.
We suggest you mail in advance of the due date because of differences in post office processing times. If you mail the bill on the due date, you may wish to send it directly from the post office and ask the postal worker to apply the postmark in front of you.
This does NOT apply to the final date to pay before tax sale. All payments must be RECEIVED by the end of the business day on November 15, 2022.
- There are many tax code districts within this county.
- Every parcel of property is located within the boundaries of a specific combination of taxing bodies.
- The tax rate varies because the number of taxing bodies attached to each parcel varies.
- Over 26,000 tax bills are sent to property owners for Stephenson County
- One tax bill is mailed out in the month of June for both installments of the real estate property tax due.
- The two equal installments are due in July and September, though both installments made be paid at once on or before the first installment due date.
If you did not receive a tax bill during the month of June, or if you lose your bill, a computer print-out of the essential information contained on the missing bill can be provided by the Treasurer's Office. An exact duplicate of the bill is available to property owners for $1.00 per copy, per parcel. The duplicate bill fee for non-owners is $5.
Veterans are not charged a duplicate bill fee.
Billing information can be located by searching the property assessment and tax page, here. Note that a barcoded payment coupon is required to process the payment.
Caution: Failure to receive your tax bill does not void the tax or prevent the addition of penalties and costs.
You may fill it out and return it to us either with your tax payment.
As an alternative, the Assessor's office can mail you a form so that you may provide the necessary information. Your signature assures the county that we are not responding to a deceptive request. An online version of the form is available here.
- Property is taxed, not individuals.
- Tax bills are payable on the prior year's assessment, and taxes are due for a full calendar year.
- Prorating of the tax bill between the buyer and the seller, based on the length of ownership of property, is generally done at the time the property changes hands and written into the contract.
- The current owner is liable for the entire tax amount due.
If in doubt whether you need to forward your bill for payment, contact your mortgage holder.
We are not able to arbitrate disagreements between payers, and we ask the parties involved to decide who is entitled to the refund.
A notification is also published in a local newspaper, the Village Voices.
- After the due date, a late penalty is added at the rate of 1.5% per month.
- This penalty is not prorated.
- The exact amount of the penalty can be provided by calling our office at 235-8264.
NOTE: It is the property TAXES which are sold, NOT the property itself.
At this time, tax buyers bid for the opportunity to pay delinquent taxes, and acquire a lien on the property. This lien must be paid back to the tax buyer at whatever rate of interest the successful bidder established in his or her winning bid.
After the tax sale, which ends the annual tax cycle, all records of delinquent taxes move to the County Clerk's Office (815-235-8289). That office must be contacted for information on the redemption amounts of sold taxes.
If your property taxes are sold, you are not in immediate danger of losing your property.
When taxes are sold, a tax lien is placed on the property.
Eventually it could lead to the loss of your home, but only if no payment is made to clear the tax lien before 30 months have passed.
The other and equally important part of the determination of a property's real estate tax is the tax rate. Tax rates vary among the 108 tax districts within the county, since each parcel of property lies within the boundaries of several taxing bodies. Tax rates are calculated by the Tax Extension Division of the County Clerk's Office for each individual taxing district. This is accomplished by dividing the amount of money (the levy) that the taxing units of local government (school, forest preserve, township, county and so on) budget to raise from property taxes, by the tax base for that jurisdiction. All of these determinations are subject to legal limits.
With the taxable value of each property established, and the tax rate determined through the actions of the many taxing bodies, it is then possible to calculate the real estate property tax on all of the 27,000+ parcels. The tax rate is multiplied against the taxable value of each parcel of real estate to arrive at the property tax. To calculate the exact dollar and cents amount of the tax, or to check the accuracy of your tax bill, you must remember to move the decimal point of the tax rate two places to the left, since the rate is based on hundreds.
* Owner Occupied Exemption, Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption, Senior Citizen Freeze, Homestead Improvement Exemption, Disabled Veteran Exemption and 4 others Note: In general, properties owned by the US Government, State of Illinois, Stephenson County, Municipalities, School Districts, Churches and 501(c)(2) and 501(c)(3) Charitable Organizations are exempt from payment of property taxes.
In that case, call the Chief County Assessment Office to discuss the matter with them.
if you reside in Freeport Township (your parcel number begins with 18), please contact the Freeport Township Assessor. Freeport Township assesses it's own parcels, while the County Assessor handles the other 17 townships.
Freeport Township Assessor
524 W. Stephenson St.
Suite 214
Freeport, IL 61032
HOURS: Monday - Thursday 7:30 am - 4:00 pm, Friday 7:30 am - 1:00 pm
PHONE: (815)-232-6131
EMAIL: fptassr@freeporttownship.org