Monthly Archives: June 2017

Chicago Homeowners: Brace Yourselves for Hefty Property Tax Increases…

Chicago Homeowners: Brace Yourselves for Hefty Property Tax Increases...“Chicago Homeowners are about to get whacked with a 10% increase in their property taxes,” reports Greg Hinz in his Crain’s article, Chicago Homeowners, Brace Yourselves: Huge Tax Hike on the Way.

This refers to the second installment of property tax bills about to be released by the Cook County Treasurer’s Office.
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Calumet Township Reassessment Notices Mailed

The Cook County Assessor’s Office has mailed reassessment notices to all properties in Calumet Township. The window to appeal your assessed value at the Assessor’s Office is now open through the deadline of July 28th.Cook County Property Tax Appeal

Calumet Township is part of the south group which is being reassessed in 2017. Complete valuation statistics for Calumet have been published by the Assessor’s Office here.

Contact us for a free analysis of your property’s assessment and our professional opinion on your appeal options. Appealing your property’s assessed value in a reassessment year may allow you to secure savings for multiple years, until your next reassessment.

Get Your Free Property Tax Reduction Estimate

Worth Township Reassessment Notices Mailed

On June 23rd reassessment notices were mailed by the Cook County Assessor’s office to all properties in Worth Township. The 30 day window for appealing your assessed value is now open. The last day to file a 2017 appeal at the Assessor’s office is July 24th.Worth

Cook County townships are divided into three groups for reassessment purposes. Each group of townships is then reassessed triennially by the Assessor’s office. Worth Township is part of the south group which is being reassessed in 2017. The Assessor’s office has published the 2017 valuation statistics for Worth here.

Appealing your property’s assessed value in a reassessment year may allow you to secure savings for multiple years, until your next reassessment year. Contact us for a free analysis of your property’s assessment in comparison to others, and our professional opinion on your appeal options.

Get Your Free Property Tax Reduction Estimate

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

Chicago Property Tax AppealsJason 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.”
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Leyden Township Assessment Notices Mailed

Assessment notices were mailed today by the Cook County Assessor’s office for Leyden Township. The 30 day appeal window is now open with a deadline of July 17th.Leyden

Cook County divides townships into three groups for reassessment purposes. Leyden Township is in the north suburbs group and was reassessed last year and will not be reassessed again until 2019. However, market conditions are constantly changing and homeowners have the right to appeal their assessment every year, not just during their reassessment year.

Contact us today for a free professional opinion and analysis on your property’s assessment level in comparison to others.

Get Your Free Property Tax Reduction Estimate

Assessor Mails Stickney Township Reassessment Notices

Reassessment notices were mailed by the Cook County Assessor’s office on June 8th for properties located in Stickney Township, and appeals are now being accepted by the Assessor’s office. The window for filing an appeal of your assessed value at the Assessor’s office is now open through the deadline of July 10th.StickneyTwnSeal

Cook County townships are separated into three groups for the purposes of reassessments. Each group of townships is then reassessed triennially by the Assessor’s office. Stickney Township is part of the south group which is being reassessed in 2017. The Assessor’s office has published the 2017 valuation statistics for Stickney here.

Appealing your property’s assessment in a reassessment year may allow you to secure savings for multiple years, until your next reassessment year. Contact us if you would like more information, or for a free analysis of your property’s assessment in comparison to others, and our professional opinion on your appeal options.

Get Your Free Property Tax Reduction Estimate

Why Do So Many Cook County Homeowners Fail to Appeal Even When the Assessor Recommends It?

Cook County Property Tax Appeal "Rough Draft"Every three years, Cook County homeowners get re-assessed. Since the Great Recession is over, property taxes are dramatically increasing to pay for unfunded pensions and the Chicago Public Schools shortfall.

Did you know that your last assessment was a “rough draft” and that, if you didn’t appeal, you will probably pay a lot more than your fair share because you didn’t do what Cook County requires you to do to ensure a fair assessment?

This comes straight from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

The “Rough Draft” of Your Home’s Re-Assessment

According to Tom Shaer of the Cook County Assessor’s Office, as reported in the recent Crain’s article by Dennis Rodkin, “The first reassessment homeowners get is essentially a rough draft, meant to be tailored via an appeal. The appeal process is part of turning macro-data that comes from a computerized system into sophisticated micro-data that reflects the individual nature of each property.”

Don’t Believe It?

Perhaps because we assist with appealing Cook County homeowners’ property tax assessments, you may think we are making too big a deal out of this. If so, how about this from Fran Sitkiewicz, the Riverside Township Assessor: “The assessment feels like something you have control over. So you appeal it. Homeowners don’t want to get caught paying any more in taxes than they have to.”

What happens if you don’t appeal? A flawed assessment of your home may stay in place and you may pay more – possibly hundreds or thousands more – if you don’t appeal.

We think you should pay property taxes – just not more than your fair share and an appeal is the only way to ensure fairness, which is what the Cook County Assessor’s Office has been saying for years.

The Kensington Numbers: Only a Tiny Fraction of Homeowners Appeal

According to what is reported in Mr. Rodkin’s article and our comprehensive Cook County homeowner data that we’ve acquired and honed for many years, we’ve learned the following:

  • Emilio Cundari from Cicero Township says 850 homeowners went to his office to appeal. We’ve conducted an analysis with our algorithm on all single family homes in Cicero Township (14,497) and estimate that 5,999 of them are significantly over assessed. Though some will appeal online or use a third-party service like Kensington, many more simply live with being over-assessed.
  • Robert Maloney from Palos Township says they handled 1,200 appeals in their office. There are 20,435 single family homes in Palos Township of which we estimate 6,154 are significantly over assessed.
  • Since the Assessor’s office has stated that their reassessment process is merely a “rough draft” there does not appear, in our professional opinion, to be nearly enough appeals being filed to correct/reflect the “individual nature of each property.”

Have You Heard from Kensington Yet?

We pre-qualify everyone we contact about a possible property tax appeal so, if you’ve heard from us, it is our professional opinion that your property’s valuation falls in that group of homes that we feel is over assessed and whose valuation should be “tailored via an appeal.”

If you haven’t heard from us, we can conduct a free, no-obligation property tax reduction estimate. We only suggest appealing based on what we estimate from our proprietary algorithm, and only if it’s a significant savings.

Appealing is the only way you can save hundreds or thousands in the future and to ensure the “final draft” of your property assessment has you paying the right amount.

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