Property Tax Exemption Deadline Approaching for Some Cook County Homeowners

Eligible Cook County homeowners who did not receive the Homeowner Exemption in 2019 need to file an application for exemption with the Cook County Assessor’s Office by April 9, 2021.

The Homeowner Exemption reduces the Equalized Assessed Value (EAV) of a primary residence by $10,000. Your property tax bill is calculated by multiplying the tax rate in your local district by the EAV. The Homeowner Exemption is available to anyone who owns or leases their principal place of residence in Cook County and is responsible for the property taxes.

The exemption renews automatically so it is not necessary to reapply if you are still living in the same home where you received the exemption last year.

Exemptions for Disabled & Returning Veterans

Additional exemptions are available to returning and disabled veterans who apply by April 9, 2021. These exemptions also reduce the EAV of a primary residence. For eligible disabled veterans with a home EAV of less than $250,000, the reduction ranges from $2,500 to $5,000 in EAV. A new law makes veterans with a disability of 70% or more exempt from paying any property taxes on their primary residence. Eligible veterans can receive this exemption in addition to the Homeowner Exemption and any other exemptions to which they are entitled. The veterans with disabilities exemption usually requires an annual renewal but will be auto-renewed this year due to COVID-19.

Additional information about this exemption is available here.

Illinois residents returning from active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Reserve Forces or the Illinois National Guard with a principal place of residence in Cook County as of Jan. 1, 2020, can apply for an additional $5,000 in reduction in the equalized assessed value of their property. This exemption must be filed annually.

Disabled Persons Exemption

Non-veterans with disabilities can also apply for an additional exemption by April 9, 2021. The Disabled Persons Exemption is offered to Cook County homeowners who were disabled or became disabled in 2020 and were using the property as their primary residence as of Jan. 1, 2020. This exemption reduces a home’s equalized assessed value by $2,000 and can be applied for even if the resident currently resides in a nursing home, as long as their spouse still occupies the home, or the home is unoccupied. This exemption usually requires an annual renewal but will be auto-renewed this year due to COVID-19.

For more information on these exemptions, you can call the assessor’s Taxpayer Services Department at (312) 443-7550 or visit their website by clicking here.

Additional information as well as applications for all of these exemptions are available for download from the Cook County Assessor’s Office website.

Get a Free Property Tax Analysis

Exemptions reduce your property tax bill by reducing the taxable value of your home. But you may still be paying too much after receiving all eligible exemptions. The only way to know for sure is to undergo a thorough review of your tax assessment to ensure that your property has been accurately assessed in relation to other similar properties.

At Kensington, we provide a free, no-obligation analysis of your property tax assessment, backed by decades of experience and a proprietary algorithm used to find the most accurate comparable properties for making your case. The analysis does not create any obligation for you to use our services to pursue an appeal. But if we do find grounds for significant savings and assist in your appeal, you pay nothing unless you win. Call us or click on the link below to get started.

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