Illinois Governor Signs Law That Will Get Cook County Property Tax Refunds Out Faster

A small change in the law governing the way refunds for overpaid property taxes are administered in Cook County will speed up the process for some claimants by raising the annual cap on total refund payments.

Prior to the amendment, which took effect upon the governor’s signature earlier this month, a provision in the Property Tax Code allowed the County to delay property tax refunds for overpayments or erroneous payments until the next calendar year if the total amount of refunds paid out hit a cap of $2.5 million. That meant that a particularly sizable refund, like one due on a large commercial property, could quickly push refund payments over the cap and cause smaller refunds to be held up.

The amendment doubles the cap to $5 million in aggregate refunds of taxes and interest.

Leveling the Playing Field for Taxpayers

Kensington Research and Recovery helped push for the amendment as part of our ongoing commitment to leveling the playing field for individual taxpayers.

In 2014, Kensington lobbied successfully for a change to the Property Tax Code that gave taxpayers an extra 15 years to file claims for overpaid or erroneously paid property tax payments, extending the window to 20 years from five.

That put taxpayers on a more equal footing with the Cook County Treasurer’s Office, which has 20 years to bring claims against property owners for unpaid property taxes.

At Kensington, we don’t believe we would be doing our job as advocates for property owners if we didn’t pay attention to the bigger picture as well. Sometimes that means taking up a fight that’s bigger than one property.

Don’t Pay More Than Your Fair Share of Property Taxes

Of course, we recognize that the most important fight is the one on behalf of individual homeowners to be sure that they are not paying more than their fair share of property taxes.

In a zero-sum system that has never been all that transparent, those who don’t appeal can end up underwriting the savings of those who do. With an investment as important as the one you have made in your home, that’s not something you can leave to chance. Take advantage of our free, no-obligation assessment of your property tax situation and find out where you stand.

We use a proprietary algorithm and our decades of expertise to compare your assessment with the most relevant comparable properties. If we do not see grounds for a significant reduction in your assessment, we will not assist with your case. If we do agree to assist in your appeal, you pay nothing unless you win. And the taxpayers we assist usually win.

Click on the link below to find out if you’re paying too much.

Get Your Free Property Tax Reduction Estimate