With the looming Chicago property tax hike, you have three choices:

• Accept the property tax hike and pay approximately $340-$550 more per year (the lowest projected increase)
• Sell your property
• Appeal your property tax assessment for your Chicago home and potentially save thousands

How Much of $588 Million Do You Want to Pay?

This week, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a $588 million property tax hike to be implemented over four years, starting in 2016. This includes a 12% increase on residential properties on homes valued at $250,000 or more. This equates to a $340 to $550 annual increase. The estimated increases go up the more your home is worth.

Businesses Will Pay More, Or Will They?

Businesses will potentially pay an even higher rate but, as we covered in this blog post, are well-represented, so a significant chunk of their would-be tax burden is likely to shift to homeowners that don’t appeal their property taxes.

Ensure Your Assessment is Fair Amidst the Increase

Other than selling your property, your only property tax hike remedy is to appeal your assessment. Property taxes are not a fixed cost. While a portion of the overall Cook County property tax appeals are denied every year, Kensington has achieved a 90%+ success rate. Contact us and we can estimate your property tax reduction (for free). If we determine that you’re not in line for a significant reduction, we will not appeal. However, we are typically able to help save our Cook County homeowner clients thousands of dollars.

What have you got to lose, other than a lot of money by not appealing?

Get your free property tax reduction estimate today

In the September issue Chicago Lawyer, Roy Strom wrote a good article about Cook County property tax appeals, entitled The Assessment Squeeze: Lawyers are busier than ever appealing property assessments. The article covers how well-represented businesses shift more of the property tax cost burden on homeowners that do not appeal.

Cook County Property Tax Appeals by the Numbers

• 38 townships in Cook County: each has its own deadline for an appeal at both the county Assessor’s Office and Board of Review
• 1.8 million: parcels of land in Cook County
• 403,000: total number of property tax appeal reviews made by the 125 employees at the Board of Review last year, which costs them (us) $8.5 million to do (65% are successful)
• $94 million: estimate of legal fees paid to Cook County lawyers to appeal property taxes, much of which was spent to reduce commercial property taxes

When Businesses Pay Less, Homeowners Pay More

Despite the efforts of these lawyers, no one has been successful in reducing the total amount of property taxes that Cook County collects. It’s just that businesses and homeowners that do not appeal pay a higher share than those who appeal successfully. Additionally, since businesses are so well represented by law firms, homeowners wind up paying more than their fair share – especially those that don’t appeal. This was last estimated in 2012 when total assessed value of commercial properties was successfully reduced at the Board of Review from 42% to 37%. As a result, the homeowner share went from 51% to 57% (the “other” category was reduced from 7% to 6%).

Steep Property Tax Increases Looming

And now that Rahm Emanuel wants to raise property taxes by $450-$550 million, it’s never been more important for homeowners to appeal their property taxes at both the Cook County Assessor’s Office and Board of Review every year.

Contact us to learn more about Cook County property tax appeals and to get your free estimate