Providing Property Tax Relief Since 1999
By this time, who hasn’t heard about Rahm Emanuel’s $588 million property tax hike?
It seems that everyone in the city is bracing for this to be reflected in our next property tax bills. Details are now emerging as to which areas will be affected more than others – see below for how this affects your neighborhood.
The good news: there is a way for you to fight back against Rahm’s property tax increase…
Give yourself a holiday gift in the form of a property tax reduction that can amount to hundreds or thousands per year, every year.
You still have time to appeal your property tax assessment if you live in one of the Cook County townships listed below – even if you’ve already appealed at the Cook County Assessor’s Office. However, the Board of Review windows are about to close for good for 2015.
You’ve just purchased commercial real estate: congratulations. This blog post explains how you can reduce your property tax payment in the first year (twice) and every year thereafter, often by $5,000 to $15,000 or more annually.
If the sales price of your new property is lower than its assessed value, we can make a compelling case for a commercial property tax reduction. We have the sales data and assessed values for all commercial properties sold in Cook County, and we can quickly identify if we can make a successful sales argument with our proprietary property tax reduction algorithm.
Crain’s recently covered how Rahm Emmanuel’s $588 million property tax hike, which passed the Chicago City Council on October 28, is a double whammy for commercial property owners because it comes at a time when property values are rising and Cook County is re-assessing.
The same holds true for Chicago homeowners because of rising home values and all city of Chicago townships are being re-assessed this year.
The Cook County Board of Review has announced that 6 more townships will open on 11/9/15 for 2015 property tax appeals. The deadline to file a complaint is 12/8/15 for the following townships:
At Kensington Research & Recovery, our business is helping clients reclaim money that is rightfully due them. From receiving government refunds to appealing property taxes, we take great pride in helping our clients. At the end of the day, helping to make someone’s life better is what we find so personally gratifying.
That feeling doesn’t stop at the office door. We believe in doing the right thing and seek out opportunities to give back to our community.
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Since we were founded in 1999, we’ve heard many concerns and misconceptions about appealing your property taxes. Let’s set the record straight:
While many people feel it’s a waste of time to appeal their taxes because they don’t understand the system, or they think it won’t have an impact, over 65% of Cook County homeowners that appeal their property taxes see a property tax reduction at the Board of Review, as reported by Chicago Lawyer. You can also appeal with the County Assessor earlier in the year.
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The Cook County Board of Review has announced that Lake Township opened on 10/14/15 for 2015 property tax appeals.
The deadline to file a 2015 property tax appeal at the Board of Review is November 12, 2015.
Have you appealed your property taxes online?
While the convenience is appealing (no pun intended), you could be leaving money on the table: hundreds and possibly thousands in property tax savings. Why?
If you want your home to be considered for a property tax appeal, it doesn’t take much to file. However, if you want to make a strong appeal argument then you need to provide compelling evidence to support your appeal.
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While there’s been a lot of news on the impact Rahm Emanuel’s $541-$588 million property tax increase will have on Chicago homeowners, many do not yet realize that it also includes a tax cut for homes valued below $250,000.
This affects approximately 290,000 Chicago homeowners. See the table below to see the increase or decrease that affects you.
Just remember that this relates to the amount the Cook County Assessor’s office says your home is worth, which may or may not be in tune with actual home prices on the market. This could unfairly place your home value above the threshold or in a higher category below the threshold so you miss out on potentially larger savings. Our free property tax reduction estimate can help you understand where you are and if there’s a case to lower your home’s assessed value so you can enjoy a larger reduction or lower increase.
| Home Value | 2015 Taxes | 2016 Taxes (2015 + $318M) |
2017 Taxes (2015 + $428M) |
2018 Taxes (2015 + $481M) |
2019 Taxes (2015 + $544M) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100K | $1,390 | ($340) | ($318) | ($307) | ($294) |
| $150K | $2,325 | ($273) | ($228) | ($206) | ($180) |
| $200K | $3,260 | ($206) | ($138) | ($105) | ($65) |
| $250K | $4,195 | ($140) | ($48) | ($4) | $49 |
| $300K | $5,130 | ($73) | $42 | $97 | $163 |
| $400K | $7,000 | $61 | $221 | $299 | $392 |
| $500K | $8,870 | $195 | $401 | $501 | $620 |
If your home is valued above $250,000, your taxes will increase – significantly. This increase could drive people out of their homes. The best protection against this scenario is to appeal your property taxes and it all starts with a free property tax appeal estimate.
According to Chicago Real Estate Daily, mansions owned by Richard Parrillo and JB Pritzker worth $12-$16 million each and already are taxed around $230,000 per year could see increases of $29,000-$39,000 per year.
Contact us to see if you qualify for this potentially new Chicago property tax exemption
Over 90% Success Rate on Property Tax Appeals & Protests
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