Stipend and Reimbursement Programs

The Department awards $500 per year to any supervisor of assessments in counties with less than 3 million inhabitants and in which no county assessor has been elected under Section 3-45 (35 ILCS 200/3‑45), township or multi-township assessor, deputy assessor, or board of review member who has been awarded a Certified Illinois Assessing Officers (CIAO) certificate from the Illinois Property Assessment Institute. The award is subject to the requirements for continued training.

The Department also awards an additional $500 per year to any supervisor of assessments, township or multi-township assessor, deputy assessor, or board of review member who has earned a Certified Assessment Evaluator certificate from the International Association of Assessing Officers. In addition, the Department awards $250 per year to any supervisor of assessments, township or multi-township assessor, deputy assessor, or board of review member who has been awarded a Residential Evaluation Specialist, Assessment Administration Specialist, or Cadastral Mapping Specialist certificate by the International Association of Assessing Officers, but who has not been awarded a Certified Assessment Evaluator certificate. To continue to be eligible for additional compensation, a supervisor of assessments, township or multi-township assessor, deputy assessor, or board of review member must successfully complete a minimum 30 hours of qualified continuing education classes within each calendar year for which the stipend is being requested (at least 15 of the 30 hours must be examination credit).

Qualifying individuals need not apply for the stipend: it is issued automatically to qualified members of the assessment community. To qualify, an individual must

1. hold qualified office,
2. complete required education, and
3. possess a valid oath of office covering the qualifying period.

Each Chief County Assessment Officer completes an annual report to verify which individuals hold qualifying office titles. See PTAX-1092-B, Employment Verification Report Information and Instructions.

Qualifying elected or appointed township or multi-township assessors or chief county assessment officers may petition the Illinois Department of Revenue to receive a $3,000 monetary bonus (assessor’s bonus) based on performance to encourage assessors to assess property uniformly and to encourage the township assessor to reassess township property. A township assessor may not qualify for the bonus if changes in the township’s assessment level are the result of a township multiplier applied by the supervisor of assessments. The bonus is $3,000 minus payroll taxes (e.g., federal and state taxes) and IMRF contributions. (35 ILCS 200/4-20) 

To qualify for the monetary bonus award, assessors must meet the requirements identified below.

For counties with more than 50,000 inhabitants (but fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants), the requirements are 

• a three-year average level of assessment between 31 1/3 percent and 35 1/3 percent of the fair cash value for the assessment jurisdiction, and 
• a coefficient of dispersion (COD) no greater than 15 percent (i.e., 15.00% or less).

For counties with fewer than 50,000 inhabitants, the requirements are 

• a three-year average level of assessment between 31 1/3 percent and 35 1/3 percent of the fair cash value for the assessment jurisdiction, and 
• a COD no greater than 30 percent (i.e., 30.00% or less).

The Department performs standard sales ratio studies to determine both the level of assessment and the coefficient of dispersion. To determine the jurisdiction’s current level of assessment, the Department uses the most recent three-year adjusted median as determined by the assessment/sales ratio study. For example, for the 2026 bonus, the Department will use the 2023, 2024, and 2025 levels of assessment. Since this is a performance bonus and since sales ratio studies compare the prior year equalized assessed value to the current sale price, the current year action by the assessor needs to be taken into consideration. This gives the assessor the opportunity to take corrective action if the assessments are not at the proper level. Therefore, adjustments to the study data may be made on the basis of changes reported by the assessor in Section 3, Column 2 of Form PTAX-205, Assessor's Application for Additional Compensation. The Department generally uses the most recent single year assessment/sales ratio data to determine if the coefficient of dispersion qualifications are met. For example, for the 2026 bonus award, the Department will use the 2025 single-year sales ratio study.

The Department pays each county treasurer, coroner, sheriff, and auditor a stipend per year.

Each month the Department reimburses a county for a percentage of the salary the county paid to its state's attorney, public defender, supervisor of assessments, and sheriff.

The Department reimbursement is as follows:

• A county is reimbursed each month for 66 2/3 percent of the total annual compensation paid to its state's attorney based on the salary in effect on December 31, 1988, and 100% of the salary increases taking effect after December 31, 1988. The county pays 33 1/3 percent of the state's attorney total annual compensation in effect on December 31, 1988.
• A county is reimbursed for 66 2/3 percent of the salary paid to its public defender for the preceding month. The state will only reimburse each county for one public defender.
• A county is reimbursed for 50 percent of the salary paid to its supervisor of assessments for the preceding month if the Department determines that the total assessed value of property in the county is between 31 1/3 percent and 35 1/3 percent of the total fair cash value of property in the county.
• A county is reimbursed for 66 2/3 percent of the salary paid to its sheriff for the preceding month, effective July 1, 2022.

• PTAX-450-PD - Public Defender Invoice Voucher and Instructions
  
• PTAX-450-SA - Supervisor of Assessments Invoice Voucher and Instructions
  
• PTAX-450-SF - Sheriff Invoice Voucher and Instructions
  
• PTAX-451 - Salary Adjustments for Supervisor of Assessments, Public Defender, or Sheriff