Kendall County property tax bills come in two installments each year, calculated by taking one-third of your home’s market value, subtracting any homestead exemptions you qualify for, and multiplying what’s left by the combined rate of every taxing district that covers your parcel. For the 2025 tax year payable in 2026, the first installment is due June 9, 2026, and the second is due September 9, 2026.1Kendall County, IL. Paying Taxes The Chief County Assessment Office sets values and processes exemption applications; the County Treasurer handles billing and collection.
How Your Bill Is Calculated
Illinois law requires every parcel to be assessed at 33⅓% of its fair cash value.2Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200/9-145 – Statutory Level of Assessment A home with a fair cash value of $300,000 carries an assessed value of $100,000 before exemptions. Township assessors reassess non-farm property on a four-year cycle, and they can also update a value mid-cycle if the property is improved, damaged, or sold at a price that suggests the assessment is off.3Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200 – Property Tax Code Farmland is reassessed annually under a separate methodology.
After local assessments are finalized, the Illinois Department of Revenue checks whether the county’s median assessment level actually hits the 33⅓% target. If it misses, the state applies an equalization factor, or multiplier, to pull values into line. The result is your equalized assessed value, or EAV.
Your bill is not based on a single rate. Each taxing district that covers your parcel — the school district, municipality, park district, library, fire protection district, and others — sets its own levy from its budget. The county clerk divides each district’s levy by the combined EAV of all property in it, producing a rate for each. Those rates stack into the composite rate applied to your parcel. The math is straightforward: EAV after exemptions, times the composite rate, equals your bill. If your EAV after exemptions is $90,000 and the combined rate is 8.5%, you owe $7,650. Rates vary significantly across the county because different areas sit inside different combinations of districts.
Exemptions That Reduce What You Owe
Each homestead exemption knocks a fixed dollar amount off your EAV before the tax rate is applied. You apply through the Chief County Assessment Office, and some require documentation you may not have on hand.
General Homestead Exemption
If you own and occupy the property as your primary residence, you qualify for a reduction of up to $6,000 in EAV.4Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200/15-175 – General Homestead Exemption Proof of occupancy is usually a driver’s license showing the property address or a utility bill. Once granted, it auto-renews as long as you keep living there.
Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption
Homeowners 65 or older get an additional reduction of up to $5,000 in EAV on their primary residence.5Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200/15-170 – Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption You verify age with a birth certificate, driver’s license, or state ID, and you can apply in the assessment year you turn 65. It auto-renews once approved.
Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze
The freeze is separate from the senior exemption and can be stacked with it. If you’re 65 or older and your total household income is $75,000 or less, you can freeze your EAV at its level from the year you first qualified. The frozen EAV won’t rise even if values around you climb, though it can fall if values drop. You must have owned and occupied the home as your primary residence on January 1 of the assessment year. The freeze requires annual renewal with new income verification. Miss a year and you lose it, with your EAV resetting to current levels.
Persons with Disabilities Homestead Exemption
Homeowners with a disability can receive an annual $2,000 reduction in EAV.6Illinois Department of Revenue. Property Tax Relief – Homestead Exemptions, PTELL, and Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral Program The application is Form PTAX-343, not PTAX-324, which is for the senior exemption. Acceptable proof includes a Class 2 disabled person identification card from the Illinois Secretary of State, a Social Security Administration disability award letter, or a Veterans Administration letter showing 100% disability. If you have none of those, a physician can complete Form PTAX-343-A certifying the disability. This exemption auto-renews once approved.
Standard Homestead Exemption for Veterans with Disabilities
Veterans with a service-connected disability certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs receive EAV reductions tied to their disability rating. The application is Form PTAX-342, filed with current VA documentation. The tiers:7Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200/15-169 – Standard Homestead Exemption for Veterans with Disabilities
- 30% to 49% disability: $2,500 reduction in EAV
- 50% to 69% disability: $5,000 reduction in EAV
- 70% or higher disability: the first $250,000 of EAV is completely exempt
- Surviving spouse of a veteran whose death was service-connected: the first $250,000 of EAV is exempt, provided the spouse receives dependency and indemnity compensation
This exemption must be filed annually. A prior year’s application does not carry over; the county needs current VA documentation each year.
How to Pay
You can pay online through Kendall County’s e-payment portal, run by Autoagent/InvoiceCloud, using a credit card, debit card, or electronic check. Card payments carry a convenience fee charged by the processor, not the county. You can also mail a check to the Treasurer’s office with the return envelope included in your bill, or pay in person at designated local banks during the collection period. Keep your confirmation number or receipt.
Due dates shift slightly each year but generally fall in June and September. Under state law, unpaid taxes become delinquent on the later of the statutory date (June 1 for the first installment, September 1 for the second) or the day after the due date printed on your bill.8Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200/21-15 – Due Dates, Singled Billed Taxes, Delinquencies
What Happens If You Don’t Pay
Delinquent taxes carry a penalty of 1.5% per month on the unpaid balance, starting the day after the due date.8Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200/21-15 – Due Dates, Singled Billed Taxes, Delinquencies An unpaid $4,000 installment accrues $60 in interest the first month, with charges compounding from there.
If taxes remain unpaid into late fall, the county collector applies for a judgment and offers the delinquent taxes at the annual tax sale. Buyers bid on the right to pay your delinquent taxes in exchange for a penalty percentage, capped at 9% of the tax amount, which you’d owe on top of the original balance to reclaim the property.9Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200 – Property Tax Code – Tax Sale Procedures The penalty multiplies over time: redeem within six months and you pay it once; at twelve months, twice; and so on up to six times the penalty at the thirty-month mark.
For residential properties of one to six units, the redemption period is two and a half years from the sale date. For commercial, industrial, or vacant non-farm property, the window is one year.10Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200 – Property Tax Code – Redemption If you don’t redeem in time, the tax buyer can petition for a tax deed and take ownership. Property tax delinquency in Illinois is a path to losing your home, not just a financial inconvenience.
Contesting Your Assessment
If you believe your property is overvalued, file a written complaint with the Kendall County Board of Review within 30 days of the date the assessment list is published.11Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200/16-55 – Complaints Include evidence supporting a lower value: a recent appraisal, sale prices of comparable homes nearby, or documentation of property damage or defects. The board provides official forms, schedules a hearing, and issues a written decision by mail.
Appealing to the Property Tax Appeal Board
If the Board of Review’s decision doesn’t go your way, you have 30 days from the postmark date of their written notice to file an appeal with the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board.12Property Tax Appeal Board. Frequently Asked Questions PTAB is a state-level body that independently reviews local assessment disputes. The deadline is firm: 30 days from the postmark, not from when you open the letter.13Illinois General Assembly. Illinois Code 35 ILCS 200/16-160 – Property Tax Appeal Board PTAB appeals involve written evidence and, in some cases, a hearing. The board can adjust your assessed value up or down, so be confident in your evidence before filing.