Bill Text: IL SR0318 | 2025-2026 | 104th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs the Auditor General to conduct a performance audit of the Illinois Department of Revenue's valuation and assessment of railroad companies' properties as required under the Property Tax Code.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2025-05-20 - Referred to Assignments [SR0318 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2025-SR0318-Introduced.html

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SENATE RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Department of Revenue annually calculates
equalized assessed valuations of railroad operating properties
according to the Illinois Property Tax Code; and
WHEREAS, 35 ILCS 200/11-70 defines what is railroad
operating property and what is non-carrier real estate; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Revenue annually
determines and publishes the equalized assessed value of
railroad operating property subject to its assessment
jurisdiction under the Property Tax Code, for each of the
railroads operating in Illinois; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Revenue's authority
does not extend to assessing non-carrier real estate; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois Property Tax Code provides local
assessing officers with the authority to assess non-carrier
real estate; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Revenue's
administrative law judges have ruled on requests for hearings
and challenges to this system in the following cases, PT 09-13
Saint Clair County Assessor and City of Centreville v UPRR, PT

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20-03 Spector v Railroads, PT 20-04 Spector v Railroads, and
PT 20-07 Spector v Railroads; and
WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Revenue publishes
guides and information regarding the property tax system,
including its property tax administration responsibilities;
therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FOURTH GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Auditor General is
directed to conduct a performance audit of the Illinois
Department of Revenue's (IDR) valuation and assessment of
railroad companies' properties as required under the Property
Tax Code; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the audit should focus on the following:
(1) The adequacy of IDR's procedures for providing
access by members of the public, local assessors, and
county treasurers to each year's data, processes, and
guides regarding the assessment of railroad operating
property;
(2) IDR's procedures for annually determining which
railroad properties are no longer operating property;
(3) IDR's procedures for local assessors,
municipalities, and private citizens to challenge the
classification status of properties in their respective

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areas as between railroad operating property and
non-carrier real estate;
(4) IDR's procedures for notifying members of the
public, local assessing officers, and county treasurers of
property that is no longer railroad operating property so
local assessing officials can assess that property;
(5) Whether IDR procedures assure that railroads
adequately inform the department and the relevant county
assessor when the classification of property should be
reclassified and transferred from operating to
non-operating (non-carrier) property so that it begins
being assessed by the local assessor;
(6) Whether IDR procedures adequately incentivize
local assessors to notify the department about
railroad-owned properties that should no longer be
classified as operating property;
(7) The procedures, methods, and deadlines for
annually obtaining and setting the value for each railroad
in Illinois;
(8) Whether a survey of stakeholders, including county
assessors, county clerks, county treasurers, and members
of the public, suggests that the phrase "any person
feeling aggrieved" or the phrase "any party to the
proceeding who feels aggrieved by the decision" in 35 ILCS
200/8-35 is clear or should be defined in greater detail,
including in a rule or regulation;

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(9) The procedures, methods, and deadlines for
allocating equalized assessed values for each railroad's
operating property to each taxing body in the State of
Illinois and the methods, deadlines, and procedures by
which members of the public, local assessing officials,
and county treasurers can challenge these decisions and
request hearings;
(10) Whether IDR's rules, regulations, and guides
adequately explain how it administers Sec. 11-110 of the
Property Tax Code, which reads in part as follows: "The
equalized assessed value of the operating property of
every railroad company subject to assessment, when
determined as prescribed in Section 11-80, shall be listed
and taxed in the several taxing districts in the
proportion that the length of all the track owned or used
in such taxing district bears to the whole length of all
the track owned or used in this state.";
(11) The adequacy of IDR's formula and process for
distributing a railroad's statewide value to local taxing
bodies;
(12) The notice and deadlines for filing
classification challenges and requests for hearings as to
whether local assessing officials and others believe these
deadlines are adequate;
(13) How administrative law judges are chosen to
preside over hearings and challenges to departmental

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decisions and the degree to which these administrative law
judges are independent of the department;
(14) Whether and how members of the public can obtain
and review pleadings filed before the IDR's administrative
law judges and whether these procedures are available to
the public; and
(15) To what extent IDR should issue rules explaining
its procedures; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Illinois Department of Revenue and any
other entity having information relevant to the audit
cooperate fully and promptly with the Auditor General's Office
in the conduct of this audit; and be it further
RESOLVED, That the Auditor General commence with this
audit as soon as possible and report his findings and
recommendations upon completion in accordance with the
provisions of Section 3-14 of the Illinois State Auditing Act;
and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be delivered to
the Auditor General and the Illinois Department of Revenue.