Virginia, IL – Cass County administrators are working on the county's assessment procedures and software. The county recently signed an agreement with Cargill to lower the value of the pork plant to $13 million from its assessed value of $29 million.
Board chairman David Parish says assessment formulas based on residential property, the quadrennial assessment, and state property tax multipliers all contributed to the assessment being more than it should have been.
He says lowering the value of the plant will cut the county's assessed valuation by more than 10 percent. Parish says the biggest effect will be on the township and the Beardstown schools.
He believes the $1.3 million payment in lieu of taxes that the plant will make will help the taxing bodies adjust to the lower assessments.
Parish is also hoping several projects that will or might come on-line will help increase the county's tax base. They include a new Wal-Mart, a proposed ethanol plant, and a possible fish processing plant.