Property owners in a northern McLean County park district are being notified of a tax calculation error they will have to make up for next year.
It’s one of series of tax miscalculations from the McLean County Clerk’s office dating back to last year. The county clerk’s office is responsible for calculating tax rates, while the county treasurer’s office collects the taxes.
The McLean County Treasurer’s Office said it sent certified letters on Thursday to more than 1,100 taxpayers in the Octavia Park District in Colfax notifying them of the error in which they were underbilled $24,345 in the 2024 tax year, which was due to miscalculation of the tax rate applied to the district’s general obligation bond levy in 2025.
“We regret the inconvenience caused by this error and appreciate the public’s understanding and cooperation as we work to ensure accuracy and transparency in the property tax process,” McLean County Treasurer Rebecca McNeil said in a news release. McNeil said anyone with questions should contact the county clerk’s Tax Extension Division at 309-434-6598.
The McLean County Clerk’s Office discovered the error in September of last year, McNeil said. The county board approved a no-interest loan to the district in October 2025, after the district’s attorney said the lack of funding would cause the district to default on its debt.
The additional taxes will be added to the tax bills in two installments that will be due in 2027.
The treasurer’s office also said it has sent certified letters to taxpayers in the Village of Hudson who were undercharged this year because the levy was erroneously assigned to property owners in Hudson Township outside of city limits. Taxpayers in Hudson Township already have received corrected tax bills after they were overcharged.
The error left an underbilling of $81,560 to Village of Hudson taxpayers. The county board in July approved a no-interest loan to the village to make up the difference.
McNeil said Illinois property tax code requires notice to be sent by certified mail. She said the cost of the two mailings to the county will be $12,700.
The letters were not sent until after the 2026 tax collection cycle to avoid potential confusion for taxpayers, according to Don Rood, McLean County first assistant state’s attorney in its civil division.
“On average, the arrearages are expected to have a relatively minor impact on individual tax bills,” Rood said.
Other errors
In 2025, incorrect tax bills were sent to property owners in the Olympia and Ridgeview school districts. Olympia school officials attributed the miscalculation to a voter-approved tax swap that was improperly applied.
County Clerk Kathy Michael declined to comment on the Octavia Park District tax error and directed questions to county administration and the county’s legal department.
Following the miscalculation with the Village of Hudson’s tax, Michael described the error as related to “human data entry” in an email to county officials and added her office has put in more safeguards to avoid the problem in the future.
"In talking with [colleagues] around the state, we also agree to avoid too much reliance on institutional knowledge. What this means is, you never know when a vital staff member may leave unexpectedly. We are working on building and leveraging easy to navigate geography, structures and systems," Michael said in an email to county officials and WGLT.
County Board Chair Elizabeth Johnston said in July she wants to see more controls put in place to avoid improper tax bills going out in the mail.
“We do want to have those backstops. We do want to have these double checks to make sure that things are as they should be before they go to the printer,” Johnston said.
Michael, a Republican, is seeking a fifth term in the November election, for which early voting is under way. She is running against Democrat Joshua Crockett.
