Clark County taxpayers may see a reduction in their tax bills after the Clark County Park District, also known as Mill Creek, failed to submit its annual tax levy to the county clerk by the required deadline. According to Illinois law (35 ILCS 200/18-15), all taxing districts must certify their levies to the county clerk on or before the last Tuesday in December each year.
Because the Park District did not file its levy on time for 2025, there is currently no legal basis for collecting taxes for that district in the upcoming cycle. The law does allow for amending a properly and timely filed levy, but it does not provide a process for correcting a complete failure to file by the deadline.
The Park District plans to vote on a new tax levy resolution at its meeting scheduled for January 15, 2026. However, this action would not be effective if state law is followed because of the missed filing deadline.
“Earlier decisions of this court have rather clearly established that, with certain exceptions not applicable here, an additional levy or an amended levy, adopted subsequent to the last Tuesday in September, is of no effect unless its purpose is to correct errors in an earlier certificate which did not accurately reflect the action of the boards. (“Board of Education v. Barrett”)”
If no tax is levied due to this error, taxpayers could benefit from an estimated $170,613 reduction in property taxes that would otherwise have been collected by the Park District.
A copy of the proposed resolution is available online for public review.
