A press release from McHenry County:

McHenry County introduces new, free “Online Property Inquiry” tool to County website

The new, free “Online Property Inquiry” tool provides the public with an easy-to-use mechanism to access property parcel and tax information. This one-stop shop system can personalize tax information to each parcel, including tax payment details, tax dollar distribution, and map through Athena software.

New property tax web portal rolled out by County Treasurer, County Clerk, Supervisor of Assessments, Planning and Development Department and Geographic Information System.

This resource enhances transparency and efficiency by improving users’ access to parcel and taxpayer data.

The creation of the online tool was to advance service delivery and support effective tax administration.

Several County departments collaborated to develop the new system, including the County Treasurer, Assessor, County Clerk, Geographic Information System (GIS), and Planning and Development department.

Previously, the only resource available to the public for tax information was the “Subscriber Inquiry” tool.

The “Subscriber Inquiry”, which is still available on the County website and no longer requires a fee, only provides a limited range of functions to access and compare tax bill information.

Consequently, users often relied on County staff to explain property parcel and tax information to understand their bill.

The new “Online Property Inquiry” system is flexible and visually-friendly to users.

Not only does it provide a personalized tax computation report but can present information in charts and graphs. Program categories include, but are not limited to, assessments, billing and collection, tax sales, exemptions, violations, permits, and genealogy.

Users can directly view parcels through the GIS Athena public property search, which is a navigational tool to identify property parcels by number, types, and class.

Tax history is separated and available by year so users can compare and see if there are any changes to their tax bill.

Online access to property parcel and tax information creates direct access to County services.

Residents and property owners can review and pay their tax bill without mailing, calling or stepping foot in the Treasurer’s Office. The County intends to incorporate individual tax bills into the new system by spring 2016.

Once completed, users will have access to a shopping cart tool to select and pay multiple tax bills.

To directly access the new “Online Property Inquiry” tool, please visit the McHenry County Treasurer’s website: https://www.co.mchenry.il.us/county-government/departments-j-z/treasurer.