Woodford tax bills, the May mailing and the late-October sale
The typical Woodford County homeowner pays about $4,215 a year in real estate taxes, according to Census survey data, on a median home value of $197,600. That works out to roughly 2.1 percent of value each year. The county assesses property at one-third of fair market value, then compares sale prices with assessments in each township every year and applies a township equalization factor. Bills usually go out in May. The first installment is due 30 days after mailing and the second on the first Friday in September.
Unpaid taxes go to the Treasurer's annual tax sale, held in late October. What sells is the tax debt, not the house: the bidder willing to accept the lowest penalty rate, capped at 9 percent, pays the taxes. On a home with one to six units, you generally have up to 3 years from the sale to redeem. If you're behind, the Treasurer's office can tell you what's owed, and a sale before then lets unpaid taxes come out of your proceeds at closing.
Foreclosure cases at the Eureka courthouse
Illinois mortgages can only be foreclosed through the courts. Woodford County is part of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit along with Ford, Livingston, Logan and McLean counties, and foreclosure (FC) cases go through the Circuit Clerk's Civil Division in Room 201 of the courthouse at 115 N. Main St. in Eureka, the county seat. The circuit's only residential foreclosure mediation rule covered McLean County alone, and it has been suspended as of May 1, 2025. No mediation program for Woodford turned up. The Civil Division's page links to Illinois Legal Aid for free help.
A mortgage case in Eureka runs on dates counted from service, not from the first missed payment: 90 days to catch up with costs, and a full payoff option that lasts until 7 months after service or 3 months after judgment, whichever is later, but not past the judicial sale. The sale itself isn't final until an Eleventh Circuit judge confirms it, with possession 30 days after that order. Those dates run separately from the Treasurer's late-October tax sale, so a Woodford owner behind on both the mortgage and the taxes can be watching two deadlines at once. The Illinois foreclosure timeline and deadline calculator map each stage.
From Germantown Hills to the northern farm towns
About 38,312 people live in Woodford County, according to Census survey estimates for 2020 to 2024. About 86 percent of occupied homes are lived in by their owners, the median home was built in 1972, and about 18 percent of units date to 1939 or earlier. The county sits between Peoria and Bloomington-Normal.
Values split from town to town. Germantown Hills, on the Peoria-side bluffs, has a Census median value of $264,900. Eureka, the county seat and largest city, sits at $154,300, and the northern farm towns and river villages mostly run between about $110,000 and $160,000, with Washburn lowest at $89,100. Those are owner estimates from a Census survey, not appraisals, so recent sales on your own street say more about your house. A few towns cross county lines, so confirm which county your home is in, since that decides the assessor, treasurer and court.
Running the numbers on a $239,950 Woodford sale
Illinois REALTORS put the Woodford County median sale price at $239,950 for the second quarter of 2026, on 104 closed sales. Here's a rough look at what comes out of that on a traditional listing:
- Agent commission at about 4.9 percent (Clever's Illinois average, updated September 2026): roughly $11,800
- Closing costs at about 1.2 percent: roughly $2,900
- State transfer tax at $0.50 per $500: about $240
That's roughly $14,900 before your mortgage payoff, repairs or holding costs. Swap in your own likely price for a closer number, and add a month or two of taxes, insurance and utilities if the house will sit on the market. Some Illinois counties add a transfer tax of $0.25 per $500, about $120 here, so ask your closing attorney whether one applies. By custom the seller pays transfer tax, though that's negotiable. If you inherited the house, the inherited house guide covers the Illinois steps.
If the property is a fit, a cash buyer may make an offer and you pick the closing date. Listing with an agent is also a fine choice, especially for a home in a higher-value area like Germantown Hills. If a foreclosure deadline is pushing you, the page on selling to stop a foreclosure lays out the options.
Woodford County and nearby Peoria-area pages
Here are the nearby Peoria-area county and city pages, plus the statewide directory for the rest of Illinois.
- Peoria: city stamp of $2.50 per $1,000 paid by the seller, May 2026 median $173,700
- Peoria County: Germantown Hills and Worth Township sit on the Peoria side
- Tazewell County: Oct. 19 tax sale, second-quarter median $193,500
- Marshall County: foreclosures heard in Lacon, second-quarter median $166,250
- Stark County: October 28 tax sale in Toulon, second-quarter median $127,500
- All Illinois pages: the statewide directory of county and city pages
Sources: Census Reporter, Woodford County profile; Census Reporter, home values by town; Woodford County Supervisor of Assessments; Woodford County Treasurer; 35 ILCS 200/21-215; 35 ILCS 200/21-350; Rules of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit; Woodford County Circuit Clerk, Civil Division; 735 ILCS 5/15-1603; Illinois REALTORS Q2 2026 county statistics; Clever commission survey; Clever, Illinois transfer taxes
