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Real estate taxes will rise 2.8 percent – how to appeal 22-Jun-15 – It is property tax time again in Chicago and Cook County, and like death, higher real estate taxes are inevitable in the Windy City. Tens of thousands of city and county homeowners will receive the second installment of their 2014 property tax bills after July 1, the day the treasurer’s office puts them in the mail. The bill is due on August 3. Real estate taxes on a Chicago home valued at $200,000 will rise about 2.8 percent – or $90 – from $3,237 to $3,327, estimates Cook County Clerk David Orr. However, there is an elephant in the room no one wants to recognize. What will the 2015 real estate tax hike be with the city struggling to raise money for the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools system, which has a $1 billion budget hole caused by a pension shortfall?
Experts say the property tax hike in the city could hit 10 to 20 percent if a new source of revenue, such as a city gambling casino, doesn’t help fill the money gap. For a typical Chicago taxpayer, nearly 54 cents of every property tax dollar goes to the financially troubled public school system. Funding the cash-strapped city government takes 17 cents. Cook County government takes eight cents. Metropolitan Water Reclamation District and Chicago Park District each get six cents. Chicago currently is undergoing a triennial reassessment this year, and the bill will come due in August 2016 when the 2015 second installment of the tax bill arrives. The assessor’s office recalculates the value of each of the 1.8 million parcels of property in Cook County every three years. The reassessment is on a rotating basis among three regions of Cook County – north suburbs, south suburbs, and the City of Chicago. Appeals are getting easier but now is the time Michael Griffin, a Chicago real estate tax attorney, advises that every property owner who believes they are over-assessed should file an appeal now, especially if homeowners believe their house is worth less now than several years ago. “It is now easier to appeal since all the data about other homes in your neighborhood is online,” says Griffin. “You do not have to go to the library to look up the information or ask your neighbors about their assessment.” Homeowners can easily file an appeal online at the county assessor or Board of Review websites, Griffin noted. For residential properties, the assessment has been determined by comparing each property to similar properties in a given area. What can a property owner do to control real estate assessment increases and tax hikes? First check how your property’s assessed valuation compares with similar properties in your neighborhood. Visit the assessor’s website or call 312-443-7550 for comparables. Also check to see if the assessor has listed all the exemptions for which you are eligible, such as the Homeowners Exemption, Senior Citizen Exemption, and Senior Assessment Freeze Exemption. These exemptions can save you hundreds of dollars in taxes. If you feel you have grounds for a reduction, file an appeal with the assessor or the Board of Review. Griffin says there are three key grounds for an assessment reduction…
If an initial appeal at the assessor’s office does not lower the assessed value, there are other options: Cook County Board of Review, Property Tax Appeals Board, or call Michael Griffin.
Telephone numbers:
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