The Property Tax Appeal Board found that the plaintiffs had not shown by clear and convincing evidence that the Herget House had been overassessed or that the revised assessment violated the Illinois Constitution's uniformity clause or the United States Constitution's equal protection clause. Moreover, the Property Tax Appeal Board found plaintiffs' comparisons to other Tazewell County properties unpersuasive given the unique history, location and size of the Herget House. The appellate court reversed, finding that the removal of the Herget House from the mass appraisal system of valuation violated the uniformity clause of the Illinois Constitution of 1970. In affirming the appellate court, we base our decision on the Illinois Constitution's uniformity clause, and thus do not reach the plaintiffs' arguments that the revised assessment also violated the United States Constitution's equal protection clause. Ill. Const. 1970, art.
Uniformity requires equality in the burden of taxation.
Kankakee County Board of Review v. This, in turn, requires equality of taxation in proportion to the value of the property taxed. Thus, taxing officials may not value the same kinds of properties within the same taxing boundary at different proportions of their true value. 131 Ill. 2d at 20. The party objecting to an assessment on lack of uniformity grounds bears the burden of proving the disparity by clear and convincing evidence.