How Everyone Can Benefit from Property Tax Appeals (Not Just the Rich)

Jason Grotto’s recent expose in the Chicago Tribune is entitled, An unfair burden: Cook County failed to value homes accurately for years. The result: a property tax system that harmed the poor and helped the rich. This confirms something we’ve known for years.

Grotto’s article does an excellent job explaining how Cook County property tax appeals favor the rich at the expense of everyone else: “The county’s property tax system created an unequal burden on residents, handing huge financial breaks to homeowners who are well-off while punishing those who have the least, particularly people living in minority communities.”

This Is Not the First We’ve Heard of This…

Earlier in the year, Chicago City Wire covered how homeowners on the South Side and West Sides of Chicago are facing the combined and crushing effect of falling home values while property taxes rise to counteract the budget hole caused by property tax appeal breaks for businesses and wealthy homeowners.

We see people being left behind every day. Homeowners throughout Cook County, especially those on the South and West Sides, pay more in taxes as a percentage of their home’s value because the assessor’s office does not appear to take all active market transactions into consideration when setting values – foreclosures, and post-foreclosure resales in particular.

Prior to the Chicago Tribune article, the Cook County Assessor stood by their method for calculating assessments even though they later admitted that appealing your property taxes is the only way to ensure fairness.

Everyone Can Appeal Property Taxes: Not Just the Rich

There is an alternative to hiring expensive, politically connected attorneys as well as appealing through the Cook County Assessor’s website where you are likely to miss out on hundreds or thousands of additional savings: hire Kensington to consult on your property tax appeal.

We specialize in working with homeowners from all neighborhoods and all types of homes. We are your last line of defense against being unfairly taxed. It starts with a free property tax reduction estimate and you only pay a small portion of the savings if an appeal is successful.

Our appeals typically generate 200-500% more savings than if you were to try it yourself because of our extensive experience.

What are you waiting for? The deadline to appeal property taxes for many townships with the Assessor have passed for the year, but some townships are still open for appeal and a second opportunity to appeal will open later this year at the Cook County Board of Review.

Get Your Free Property Tax Reduction Estimate