Commercial Property Managers: The Property Tax Appeal Success Formula

Few issues are as complex as Chicago property taxes for commercial property owners, with factors like perceived market value, income, and several other factors determining your tax bill. Given the fiscal crises in Illinois, Chicago and other municipalities, the likelihood of future commercial property tax hikes is strong.

The Good News: there is an easy, no-risk way for commercial property managers like you to save their owner clients thousands per year on their property taxes.

A New Value-Add Service

In the past, commercial property managers have not been involved in property tax appeals, leaving property owners to appeal themselves, use an inexperienced lawyer or to overpay by not appealing.

Today, property managers seeking new ways to add value for their clients are facilitating property tax appeals. They do so by using an experienced property tax appeal consultant, who could save your owner clients thousands per year and the headache of having go through the process themselves. As a result, commercial property managers are not only avoiding over-payments to the government, especially on unoccupied units, but actually saving money on top of that.

The Success Formula

All a commercial property owner needs to do is the following:

• Contact us for a free property tax appeal consultation
• If we estimate significant savings, we will work with you to obtain the information needed to make an appeal
• We will coordinate appeals at both the Cook County Assessor and the Board of Review
• We are notified by the County of your property tax appeal, which will be applied to your property tax bill the following year (in the second installment)
• Your property owner client pays a small percentage of the reduction (only for the first year) and pays nothing if no reduction is achieved

Commercial Businesses Served

Kensington Research & Recovery works to lower the tax obligation for a diverse array of businesses, including:

• Office buildings
• Commercial properties
• Mixed residential/retail
• Class code 2-11 apartment buildings (2-6 units)

Appealing Recent Commercial Property Transactions

There’s no waiting period after closing for filing an appeal. By utilizing our 16 years of experience and our property tax appeal algorithm, justification for a commercial property tax reduction is usually easy if the sale price is less than the assessor’s value. Income-producing properties are often eligible for a property tax reduction on the basis of the property’s income and expense.

A recent commercial property tax appeal for a lighting manufacturer client of ours in Cook County, resulted in savings of $5,700 per year by having the property re-assessed $100,000 less than an earlier assessment.

The Next Step

What’s likely to be the strongest selling point for your client is that we work on a contingency basis – we only get a percentage of the first year’s savings if we successfully achieve a reduction, which we do 90% of the time.

Schedule your free commercial property tax consultation today