Tax bills are mailed to the property owner. Property owners need to be informed of the property tax system. If you escrow your taxes, please forward your tax bill to your escrow company, after careful examination of the bill. You should be aware of the amount of tax and tax rates, your assessed value and exemptions. Several years ago a very active secondary and tertiary market on mortgages during the tax collection season put homeowners in real jeopardy. Mortgages were sold and traded at due date times which caused many delinquencies. The property owner is ultimately responsible for the taxes being paid on time. If taxes are delinquent, the owner is responsible for penalties and interest, no matter what arrangement you may have with your mortgage company, bank or escrow company. A tax bill is often requested as proof of residency. ​

A lien on your property may be sold by the County to recover the amount of taxes due. If this is done, you will retain the right to redeem your property for two and one-half years if the property is your principal dwelling and has no more than six apartment units. Other property must be redeemed within two years. To redeem it, you will have to pay penalties and interest in addition to any tax due. Failure to redeem could result in the loss of your property. More information may be found here.

No, the Treasurer's Office does not report to any credit bureau.

Revenue raised from property taxes supports 5,900 units of local government in Illinois. About 60 percent of your property tax goes to school taxing districts. Cities, counties, townships and special purpose taxing districts share the rest. To view a chart of last years' distribution breakdown click here.

Yes. Any changes in real estate assessments must be published in a newspaper of general circulation in St. Clair County every year. Every four years, when all property is reassessed, a complete list of assessments will be published. In addition, all taxpayers must be mailed a notice of any change in their assessment from the prior year. More specific assessment information may be found in the Assessor's Office​.

Your taxes may be high, or higher than they were last year, for any or all of three general reasons. First, the taxing district in which your property is located may have asked for more property tax money than they received before. A district may ask for more tax money because of inflationary pressure, because it plans to provide more services, or because other revenues are being reduced. Second, your tax bill may be higher than bills for similar properties in the same district because your property is over assessed relative to these properties. Finally, your taxes may be high because other properties in a taxing district are receiving exemptions allowed by law.

Yes. The Treasurer's Office has a monthly payment plan consisting of nine monthly payments, which begin in September. To find out more about the installment plan see our Documents & Forms page​.

Yes. Please ensure that your addition is correct. List parcel numbers on the check, or include an additional page listing all of the parcel numbers. Include all of the tax bill stubs (coupons). Carefully tear the coupons from the bottom portion of your tax bill. Do NOT include the entire bill. Retain the top portion of your tax bills for your records.

Credit Card and electronic check payments may be made on-line. A convenience charge of 2.5% will be applied to credit card payments. Electronic check payments will add an additional service fee of $2.00. The online system accepts Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express. You will need to access your parcel number and follow the payment links. Please note the credit card and E-Check systems will be shut down at 3:00 p.m. on the last day to avoid publication and the last day to pay and avoid tax sale.

You can verify payment postings and print receipts from our Parcel and Real Estate Tax Inquiry​. Please allow sufficient processing time. You can search for current and multiple prior year tax information.