Why Appeal Your Property Taxes Every Year

Why Appeal Cook County & Chicago Property Taxes Every YearThe conventional wisdom is to appeal your Cook County property taxes once and be done with it.

Even better: some make sure they appeal after the county has re-assessed property taxes every three years based on their triennial schedule (1/3 of all 38 Cook County townships are re-assessed each year).

Even better yet is to appeal every year – or to at least have Kensington run a free, no-obligation property tax appeal estimate to see how much savings may be achieved and if it’s worth the effort. Here’s why this makes sense.
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Clarification on Cook County Board Property Tax Freeze

Cook County Property Tax FreezeIn a recent move described as “historic,” the Cook County Board of Commissioners have approved the “Cook County Taxation Predictability and Long-Term Fiscal Forecasting Amendment.” This has been described as freezing Cook County’s property and sales tax rates until January 1, 2020.

The amendment provides certain impediments to future tax levy increases after January 1, 2020, including that the Cook County Bureau of Finance must provide the Board with a fiscal forecast that analyzes revenues, expenditures and planned debt issuance for three years should the tax change occur.

This sounds good on the surface but is less appealing once you dig into it.
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Two Changes to Your Home that Should Lower Your Property Taxes

Property Tax Appeal for Vacant or Uninhabitable HomesMost property tax reductions are achieved by successfully associating your home with comparable homes (comps) that are assessed less than yours.

However, there are two additional scenarios that could dramatically reduce your property assessment and tax bill: home vacancy and if your home is uninhabitable.
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Investors Purchasing Foreclosure & REO Properties in Illinois: What You Need to Know

Investors Purchasing Foreclosure & REO Properties in Illinois: What You Need to KnowImportant changes were made to Illinois real estate law as part of Public Act 096-1083, which became effective on July 16, 2010. This law sought to address the problem of assessment officials in Illinois ignoring sales transactions for property assessment purposes on the grounds that they were “non arms-length transactions” and therefore not reflective of a property’s true fair cash value.

This problem applied to an exponentially increasing number of properties following the collapse of the real estate market during the Great Recession, and this legislation was designed to fix the problem.

However, one aspect of this law is being ignored by public assessors in Illinois. If you’re an investor of foreclosure or real estate owned (REO) properties, here’s what you can do about it.
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Chicago Homeowner Property Tax Rebate Applications Due 11/30

Update: the tax rebate deadline to file applications has been extended to December 31, 2016

Property Tax Rebate ChicagoIn an effort to offset his recent $838 million property tax hikes over the past year, Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and the city council have implemented a homeowner rebate program.

Qualified homeowners will receive $25 to $200. You may also qualify for an additional $150 senior supplement and hardship grant that extends your total rebate up to $1,000.
Not many people know about it—we just learned about it and we follow Chicago and Cook County property tax appeal-related news closely—so please read below and share with anyone you think may meet the qualification criteria.
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Can Cook County Retaliate for Property Tax Appeals?

Property Tax Appeal Retaliation in Cook CountyA question that we get a lot about appealing property taxes in Cook County is whether or not the County Assessor or anyone else can retaliate for a successful property tax appeal and reduction.

Since we started working on property tax appeals, we’ve found no evidence of retaliatory measures of any kind.

Instead, we’ve discovered the opposite.
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Property Tax Impact on O’Hare Flight Path Homes

Property Taxes for Chicago O'Hare Flight Path HomeownersWhile Cook County property taxes have skyrocketed for just about every homeowner thanks to Rahm Emanuel’s combined $838 million property tax hikes over the past year, there are some who actually saw theirs decrease.

However, there’s a “catch” for these homeowners and here’s what can be done about it.
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