CHARLESTON — The state of Illinois has made an adjustment in Coles County’s property values that will affect tax bills property owners receive this year.

The Illinois Department of Revenue assigned the county an assessment multiplier indicating it determined the county’s overall property values are too low.

Specifically, the county received a multiplier of 1.0361, meaning the department’s determination was that the county’s assessment was about 3.6% below where it should be.

The state assigns a county a multiplier of 1.00 if it finds that the county’s non-farm land property is assessed at the correct level of 33% of market value. Coles County received a 1.00 multiplier last year.

County Supervisor of Assessments Denise Shores said the county received the multiplier because property is selling at higher prices than assessed.

She described the difference between the state and county figures as “not large at all,” but added that the assessment office is working with county townships on updating the values.

Property in the multi-township assessment district made up of Ashmore, Charleston, Hutton and Seven Hickory townships is close to the correct level, assessed at slightly above 33%, Shores said.

However, the assessments in the county’s other townships are close to 30%, she added.

The state multiplier will be included in the formula used to determine property taxes to be paid this year.

Property taxes are based on several factors in addition to the assessed value, including any levy limits for the county’s government taxing bodies.