Tag Archives: property tax appeal service

Evanston Tax Bills Dash Hopes that Reassessment Might Be Kind to Homeowners

Listening Tour A Chance to Question Cook County Assessor

A whopping 86% of homeowners in Evanston are seeing property tax increases this year. A breakdown compiled by Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin shows that 11,924 of 13,810 residential properties have a tax bill that is higher – substantially in many cases – than last year’s.

Suffredin’s office has offered to help Evanston property owners who believe their tax bill contains errors or who may have overlooked an exemption that could lead to a reduction.
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Illinois Legislators Approve Automatic Renewal of Exemptions Due to COVID-19

Listening Tour A Chance to Question Cook County Assessor
Seniors, disabled veterans, and people with disabilities will no longer have to apply annually to receive the benefit of property tax exemptions for which they are eligible, under a statewide law passed recently to expand relief for hard-hit homeowners during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, who pushed for the law, announced the bill’s passage in a press release on June 11.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has put tremendous pressure on Cook County homeowners,” said Kaegi. “We’re pleased to work with the legislature, Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, and the County Board to help at-risk homeowners when they need it most.”
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COVID-19 Property Tax Relief Adjustments for South and West Suburbs

COVID-19 Adjustments

With the release of a report describing how the Cook County Assessor’s Office will factor the COVID-19 pandemic into the assessed property values for the South and West suburbs, Assessor Fritz Kaegi describes how record unemployment and the ongoing economic uncertainty will be factored into values reflected in next year’s property tax bills.

The May 28 report describes the research and methodologies the office is using to create COVID-19 tax adjustments for the South and West suburbs, which are scheduled for reassessment this year under the system by which the office reassesses roughly one-third of the county’s properties each year.
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Cook County Extends Deadline for Paying Property Tax Payments without Late Fees

Cook County property owners will have until Oct. 1 to pay the second installment property tax bill which would have been due on Aug. 3 with no late fees, under a measure intended to provide some relief to taxpayers suffering economic hardship as a result of the coronavirus shutdown.

The measure, approved by the Cook County Board last week, waives the late fees that would normally begin accruing in August.

Two Illinois state representatives have introduced similar measures to delay property tax payments statewide.
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How to Appeal Your Property Taxes: 3 Approaches

How to Appeal Your Cook County Property Taxes If you feel like you’re paying too much in property taxes – and who doesn’t – you can submit a property tax appeal to the assessor’s office and, in the case of Cook County, also to the Board of Review.

If you have the time and are effective, you may get a reduction to your assessed value which will reduce your property’s future property tax bills. To do so, you need to prove that your property is worth less than the value set by the assessor. The following are three approaches to proving a case in Cook County.
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What Happens If You Don’t Pay Your Property Taxes?

Paying Cook County Property Taxes In Chicago and throughout Cook County, many homeowners are struggling to pay their ever increasing property taxes, especially those seniors on fixed incomes and disabled individuals, as well as longtime residents of neighborhoods undergoing gentrification. More affluent homeowners may also despair of paying property tax bills that can approach six figures on high-end properties in exclusive communities.
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Property Tax Relief For Small Multifamily Property Owners

With unemployment at the highest it has been since the Great Depression, many American families are struggling to pay rent. Last month, a third of all renters failed to pay on time – a number that will likely increase as unemployment continues to rise.

In the Chicago area, evictions and foreclosures are banned during the shelter-in-place order. During this time, mom-and-pop building owners with 10 or fewer units are likely to be hardest hit, along with other small, multifamily properties and low-to-moderate income housing.

For Cook County’s small multifamily building landlords, it is a threat that makes the property tax assessment process even more important. Nearly half of Chicago residents are renters, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Smaller building landlords face the prospect of a growing number of tenants struggling to pay their rent. For landlords who cater to Chicago area college students, the prospects may be even grimmer if the pandemic interrupts a return to campus in the fall.
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Cook County Property Tax Warning: Land Assessed Value Increasing

Cook County Assessed Land Value Based on statistics recently provided by the Cook County Assessor as part of their triennial assessment, assessed land values for Barrington, Evanston and New Trier townships have increased 15-21% over 2013.

Assessed land value decreased in these townships by 2-13% from 2010 to 2013 but are now 2-16% higher than they were in 2010.

See the table below for the assessed land value data:
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Keeping Up with the Property Tax Appeal Schedule

Keeping on top of the deadlines for filing an appeal of your property tax assessment doesn’t seem like it would be an unmanageable task. And maybe it wouldn’t be if that were all you had to keep track of.

There are four key dates every year – not counting the deadline for paying your taxes on time! – the opening and closing date of the window for appealing your assessment to the county assessor’s office and the opening and closing date of the window for filing an appeal with the board of review.

Senior citizens, disabled and returning veterans and new homeowners also have deadlines for applying for exemptions that can reduce their property tax bills. So that’s five or six key dates for potentially saving thousands of dollars in property taxes or avoiding a late fee.
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5 Ways to Avoid Overpaying Your Property Taxes

5 Ways to Avoid Overpaying Your Property Taxes In her recent article, Are You Paying Too Much Property Tax?, Vera Gibbons of Zillow identifies five ways to help ensure you’re not paying more in property taxes than you should:

Correct Basic Errors: verify that there are no mistakes on your property card, including dimensions, acreage, value, bedrooms, bathrooms, garage size, and other key amenities like a fireplace or swimming pool; if you find any errors, you may qualify for a reduction in your property taxes
Comps: compare your home’s property information with your neighbors that have similar homes in terms of age, size, style, proximity, and condition; if you’re assessed higher to a comparable property, you can make an argument for a property tax reduction
Unique Conditions: if there is anything about your property or neighborhood making it somewhat undesirable, e.g. proximity to busy streets, power lines or commercial operations like a factory, you may qualify for a property tax reduction
Improvements: if your property tax bill includes structural enhancements that were never made, than you have a good case for a reduction in your property taxes
Exemptions: property tax reductions are often available for seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, historic buildings, and homes with certain energy efficient enhancements

Read the whole article here

Property Tax Appeal Service

If you think you may qualify for a property tax reduction on your property taxes for your home or business because of anything listed above or for any other reason, contact us for a free estimate on the maximum deduction we project for you.

We’ve helped more than 10,000 clients in Cook County and throughout the Chicagoland area save $1,000 or more on their property taxes since 1999.

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