A Taxing Year for Chicago Homeowners

Chicago rowhouse neighborhoodChicago residents won’t see the 2020 property tax hikes some had feared under a city budget that holds property tax increases to $18 million for public libraries, but it is little relief for a city still absorbing multiyear increases imposed to cover unfunded pension obligations– and the sting of this year’s reassessments, which hit some North Side and Central neighborhoods hard.

Pension pressures still loom large over the city of Chicago, which faces a pension burden “the largest of any U.S. city,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, the five-year contract that resolved the recent teachers’ strike will carry a price tag estimated at $1.5 billion.
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Board of Review Opens Group 9 for 2019 Appeals

Chicago rowhouse neighborhood The Cook County Board of Review has opened 2019 property tax appeals for the ninth group. The Board’s deadline to appeal your 2019 assessed value is January 8th. Below are the townships that are currently open in Group 9:

  • Bloom
  • Hanover
  • Niles
  • Rich
  • Thornton
  • Lake
  • North Chicago
  • South Chicago

If you missed your appeal opportunity at the Assessor’s office earlier in the year, or if you did appeal and weren’t satisfied with the result, you have a second opportunity to appeal at the Board of Review. Appealing your home’s 2019 assessed value is the only way to achieve property tax relief on your second installment property tax bill in July 2020, other than selling your home or claiming a new exemption. Assessments can be appealed every year, regardless of when a township was reassessed.
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Board of Review Opens Group 8 for 2019 Appeals

BOR Group 8The Cook County Board of Review has opened 2019 property tax appeals for the eighth group. The Board’s deadline to appeal your 2019 assessed value is December 31st. Below are the townships that are currently open in Group 8:

  • Jefferson
  • Orland
  • Palatine
  • Schaumburg
  • Wheeling

If you missed your appeal opportunity at the Assessor’s office earlier in the year, or if you did appeal and weren’t satisfied with the result, you have a second opportunity to appeal at the Board of Review. Appealing your home’s 2019 assessed value is the only way to achieve property tax relief on your second installment property tax bill in July 2020, other than selling your home or claiming a new exemption. Assessments can be appealed every year, regardless of when a township was reassessed.
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Board of Review Opens Group 7 for 2019 Appeals

Listening Tour A Chance to Question Cook County Assessor The Cook County Board of Review has opened 2019 property tax appeals for the seventh group. The Board’s deadline to appeal your 2019 assessed value is December 17th. Below are the townships that are currently open in Group 7:

  • Leyden
  • Hyde Park
  • Proviso
  • West Chicago
  • Worth

If you missed your appeal opportunity at the Assessor’s office earlier in the year, or if you did appeal and weren’t satisfied with the result, you have a second opportunity to appeal at the Board of Review. Appealing your home’s 2019 assessed value is the only way to achieve property tax relief on your second installment property tax bill in July 2020, other than selling your home or claiming a new exemption. Assessments can be appealed every year, regardless of when a township was reassessed.
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Exemption to Provide Property Tax Relief for Survivors of First Responders

Property Tax Relief for Spouses of Fallen First RespondersThe surviving spouses of Chicago police officers, firefighters, active duty soldiers and other first responders who have died in the line of duty will be eligible for an exemption waiving the city portion of their property tax bill, under an ordinance that will take effect next year with the 2019 tax bill.

While state lawmakers originally authorized this bill in 2012, it required the sponsorship of local officials. The measure was sponsored in Chicago by 11th Ward Alderman Patrick Daley Thompson.

“While our debt to their service and sacrifice cannot possibly be repaid, their legacies are carried on by the families they loved,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. “We will continue to do everything in our power to ensure we can make their lives a little easier.”
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Chicago’s Inspiration Cafe Celebrates 30 Years

inspiration-cafeWhen it comes to helping Chicago area homeowners relieve their tax burden, we take a lot of satisfaction in the work we do for our clients. Once a year, however, we love stepping out of our usual routine to be part of something bigger.

Uptown’s Inspiration Cafe has been serving delicious, restaurant-style meals to the homeless for 30 years. And volunteers are a big part of how it works. This year, as in past years, we sent a crew of Kensington employees to the Café to help prep, cook, serve and clear during a dinner shift.

It’s a great experience among friendly people and a reminder of how many ways there are to make a difference in the community. We loved being part of “cheeseburger night,” but we also always come away tremendously impressed by the work that this organization does.
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Board of Review Opens Group 6 for 2019 Appeals

Listening Tour A Chance to Question Cook County AssessorThe Cook County Board of Review has opened 2019 property tax appeals for the sixth group. The Board’s deadline to appeal your 2019 assessed value is December 3rd. Below are the townships that are currently open in Group 6:

  • Bremen
  • Lemont
  • Northfield

If you missed your appeal opportunity at the Assessor’s office earlier in the year, or if you did appeal and weren’t satisfied with the result, you have a second opportunity to appeal at the Board of Review. Appealing your home’s 2019 assessed value is the only way to achieve property tax relief on your second installment property tax bill in July 2020, other than selling your home or claiming a new exemption. Assessments can be appealed every year, regardless of when a township was reassessed.
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Continued Push for Bill to Require Commercial Income Data

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi has not given up on efforts to pass legislation requiring some commercial property owners to submit information about building income to the assessor’s office, which he has called “the first, best step in legislative tax reform.”

The so-called Data Modernization Bill passed the Illinois Senate earlier this year, but was shelved by a House committee amid opposition from groups that include the Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, among others. Opponents say the bill would impose burdensome reporting requirements and includes information that is confidential.

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Senior Exemption Will Renew Automatically Next Year

Cook County property owners who have already applied for and received a senior exemption will have one less chore next year under a law that makes the exemption automatic for property owners 65 and older.

In the past, the senior exemption had to be renewed annually, a task that the Cook County Treasurer’s Office found was overlooked by more than 25,000 of the county’s approximately 740,000 eligible seniors.

Under the law that went into effect this year, eligible seniors will only have to apply for the exemption once and it will auto renew annually. The exemption can reduce a homeowner’s property tax bill by an average of $300 a year as it reduces the property’s equalized assessed value by $8,000.
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Board of Review Opens Group 5 for 2019 Appeals

Listening Tour A Chance to Question Cook County Assessor The Cook County Board of Review has opened 2019 property tax appeals for the fifth group. The Board’s deadline to appeal your 2019 assessed value is November 5th. Below are the townships that are currently open in Group 5:

  • Barrington
  • Lyons
  • Maine
  • Stickney

If you missed your appeal opportunity at the Assessor’s office earlier in the year, or if you did appeal and weren’t satisfied with the result, you have a second opportunity to appeal at the Board of Review. Appealing your home’s 2019 assessed value is the only way to achieve property tax relief on your second installment property tax bill in July 2020, other than selling your home or claiming a new exemption. Assessments can be appealed every year, regardless of when a township was reassessed.
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