Shelby County parcel 0524-03-17-311-003
Is the assessment on 120 E Walnut Cowden, IL 62422 fair?
Assessed at $26,240 as residential, Dry Point Township. Below: how the homes near it that actually sold are assessed against what they sold for, and where this one sits among them. Two facts from the county's own record — not an opinion of value, which is what an appeal ultimately needs and what we will give you if you ask.
How the neighbourhood is assessed
31.4%
of what it sold for (middle half 29.8–35.3%); the statute says 33.33%
This parcel among them
10 of 21
sold homes within half a mile are assessed below it
Their assessed values
$26,375
median; $7,377 to $81,490. This parcel: $26,240
At 21% of what you paid, this parcel is assessed below the 31.4% the neighbours who sold are. There is no case here, and no reason to draw attention to it.
This parcel's own recorded sale: $125,000 in Jul 2025; the current assessment is 21% of that. A recent arm's-length sale of the property itself is the evidence a Board of Review weighs most.
The homes that sold near it
Arm's-length sales recorded with the county in the last 3 years, nearest first, with the assessed value the county carries for each today. Whether any of them is like this house — size, age, condition — is the question the record cannot answer and an appeal turns on.
| Parcel | Distance | Recorded | Price | Assessed | Ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 325 S 3RD Cowden, IL 62422 | next door | Sep 2026 | $35,800 | $12,558 | 35.1% |
| 500 S Grand Ave Cowden, IL 62422 | next door | Sep 2026 | $215,000 | $37,454 | 17.4% |
| Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.1 mi | Mar 2025 | $20,000 | $7,377 | 36.9% |
| 237 S 3RD Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.1 mi | Aug 2024 | $73,000 | $13,693 | 18.8% |
| 326 E Christy St Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.1 mi | Sep 2024 | $134,000 | $57,182 | 42.7% |
| 119 S 3RD Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.2 mi | Aug 2025 | $95,000 | $29,046 | 30.6% |
| 212 Ravine Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.2 mi | Nov 2024 | $38,000 | $13,400 | 35.3% |
| 222 S 4th Street Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.2 mi | Jul 2025 | $165,000 | $51,862 | 31.4% |
| 332 W Chestnut Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.2 mi | Jun 2026 | $37,500 | $16,153 | 43.1% |
| 428 E Cedar Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.2 mi | Sep 2024 | $45,000 | $12,840 | 28.5% |
| 107 S 4TH Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.2 mi | Mar 2025 | $80,000 | $26,375 | 33% |
| 102 S 5TH Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.3 mi | Oct 2024 | $89,100 | $26,549 | 29.8% |
| 176 N 1475 East Rd Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.3 mi | Dec 2023 | $74,000 | $23,818 | 32.2% |
| 218 N 3RD Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.3 mi | Nov 2025 | $30,000 | $12,761 | 42.5% |
| Cowden, IL 62422 | 0.3 mi | May 2024 | $60,000 | $11,483 | 19.1% |
Prices from PTAX-203 transfer declarations; assessed values from the county assessor's current file (so a home reassessed after its sale shows today's figure against yesterday's price). Not MLS figures. Nothing here names an owner.
What the assessment costs
What the property tax runs
Owner-occupied
$1,475 / yr
about $123 a month
Owner-occupied, 65+
$892 / yr
both homestead exemptions
No exemptions
$1,912 / yr
a rental or second home
Assessed value $26,240 × the 2024 rate of 7.29% for tax code 05002 (Dry Point Township), billed in 2025.
The owner-occupied figures take the General Homestead ($6,000 off the assessed value) and Senior Citizens ($8,000) exemptions; the senior freeze, veterans’ and home-improvement exemptions are not shown and can lower a bill further. The rate is the newest the clerk has published; the next levy will move it a little, and a sale can prompt a reassessment. Sources: Shelby County Clerk, Tax Codes and Districts Catalog, 2024 (payable 2025) and the assessor's current file. The bill of record is the treasurer's: Erica Firnhaber, Shelby County Treasurer.
How an appeal actually works here
- Talk to the assessor first. Many differences are a record error — a garage that came down, a square footage that was never right — and get fixed with a phone call, no appeal needed.
- The county Board of Review. A written complaint in the window after the township's assessments are published each year; the office can tell you the dates for this township. Evidence: a recent appraisal, comparable sales, or comparable assessments (the equity argument — the table above is where that starts).
- Then the state. A Board of Review decision can go to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board within 30 days of the decision — its forms and rules are on ptab.illinois.gov.
Shelby County Supervisor of Assessments
(217) 774-5579 · Shelby County Courthouse, 301 E Main St, 2nd floor, Shelbyville, IL 62565
the office's page · the Board of Review · PTAB's county sheet
We publish no appeal deadline: the window is set by the township's publication date each year, and the office is the authority on it. Contact details PTAB county sheet (ptab.illinois.gov/counties/Shelby.pdf) and shelbycounty-il.gov, read 2026-09-21.
Ask us to look at it properly
The table above is where an equity argument starts, not where it ends: a Board of Review wants an opinion of market value, and that means someone who has stood in the houses. We will look at 120 E Walnut Cowden, IL 62422 against what has sold and tell you honestly whether an appeal looks worth the trouble. No cost, no obligation.