Macon County, Illinois was organized in 1829, and at that time included not only its present geographic area, but also in portions of the present-day Piatt, DeWitt, and Moultrie Counties. The county was named in honor of Nathaniel Macon of North Carolina, who was a prominent national character during many of the early years of our Republic, having served with distinction throughout the Revolutionary War. Township organization was adopted at the election held in November, 1859.
The Macon County Board currently has 7 Districts, with three members representing each District for a total of 21 Board members. The Macon County Board Chair is elected from the Board members.
Macon County, Illinois is home to Decatur's Millikin University, Richland Community College, and two major regional hospitals: Decatur Memorial Hospital and St. Mary's Hospital. Macon County is a leader in agribusiness with the headquarters of Archer Daniels Midland Company (ADM), a Tate and Lyle research and manufacturing facility, and it hosts the world-renown Farm Progress Show every other year.
According to the 2010 US Census, Macon County, Illinois has a population of 110,768. The largest urban areas in the County are the City of Decatur, the Village of Mt. Zion, and the Village of Forsyth.
Visitors will find many historical sites around Macon County, many that are associated with Abraham Lincoln including the log house where Lincoln tried several cases as a lawyer in the 1830's, the site of his famous "Stump Speech", the site where Lincoln was nominated for President, and the Lincoln Homestead where Lincoln and his family lived.
The purpose of this website is to increase awareness and accessibility to information about local government, services and programs of Macon County. Please check back often for updates in the scrolling news box. If you know what you are looking for, but can't find it, please use the Site Search box in the top left. Check out our Questions and Answers page for the most common questions that we get. You can click on the weather in the box on the left hand side to get detailed information and forecasts from the weather channel. If you would like to see a list of every page on this site use the site map at the bottom of the page.
Welcome to Macon County's new website.
We have tried to update the site to make it more user friendly. If you have any comments or suggestions please email them to webmaster@co.macon.il.us. Thanks for visiting our new website!
Macon County Display Budget
The 2012 Macon County Display budget is available for download here.
Macon County Audit
The Macon County Comprehensive Financial report is available for download here.
Civil Unions
Effective June 1, 2011 and pursuant to the Illinois Religious Freedom Protection and Civil Union Act Macon County will begin accepting applications for a civil union. Information provided by the ACLU in Illinois about civil unions can be found here.
New Property Tax Website
Macon County now has a new way to research property taxes. Our new website www.propertytax.co.macon.il .us is available to the public. You can use this site to view property tax exemptions, sales, ownership and much more.
Electronics Disposal Ban
The Illinois Environmental Protection agency has issued a press release regarding the ban that can be found here. Local recycling options in Macon County are:
Advanced Technology Recycling (ATR)
Macon County location opening in Spring 2012
Best Buy*
1450 Koester Dr., Forsyth - 875-2418
Staples *
900 Commerce Place Dr. - 875-9951
Veolia ES Valley View Landfill, serviced by ATR*
1363 Bear Road, Decatur – 429-0020
One Day Collections
Macon County in partnership with Advanced Technology Recycling will host a number of one-day collections for residential electronics. Please call 425-4505 for notification of dates.
*Restrictions may apply. Please call prior to drop-off.
Open Meetings Act Amendment – Duty to Post Compensation Information
A recent amendment to the Open Meetings Act requires an employer who participates in the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (“IMRF”) to post on its website, or at its principal office if it does not have a website, for two (2) different categories of employees: those employees with a total compensation package in excess of $75,000 and those employees with a total compensation package equal to or greater than $150,000. These changes were part of Public Act 97-609, the pension reform bill. The provisions concerning posting on the website become effective on January 1, 2012.
March 20, 2012 General Primary Election Information
A specimen ballot for the Republican and Democratic party can now be found in the downloads section. There is also a notice regarding voter registration and absentee voting information available here.
