How to Read Your Cook County Property Tax Bill

How to Read Your Cook County Property Tax Bill It’s probably your least favorite piece of mail that you will receive all year: your Cook County property tax bill. How do you read it, when can you appeal it, when are these reductions applied, and when are property tax exemptions applied?

Read on: all will be revealed in this blog post.

First Installment & Due Date

Unless you are a fully exempt veteran that is disabled 70% or more, the first installment of your Cook County property tax bill is automatically calculated to be 55% of the total that was due in the previous year. A law passed by the Illinois Legislature in 2009 raised the first installment tax from 50% to 55% of the prior year’s total tax. The first installment payment due date is always the first business day in March.

Second Installment & Due Date

All property tax reductions granted in 2015 and property tax exemptions will be applied to the second installment of your Cook County property tax bill that is sent out mid-year 2016. The actual due date of the second installment varies. This is because the second installment bill relies on the delivery of various sets of data by other state and county agencies. Unlike the first installment bill, the second installment reflects new assessed values, assessment appeals, exemptions, the state equalization factor, and taxing-district tax rates. All of this data are prepared by other state and county agencies.

The Best Time to Appeal Your Property Tax Bill

Like planting a tree, the best time to appeal your property taxes was last year. The second best time to appeal your property taxes is when the Cook County Assessor opens the appeal window for your township – see the complete 2016 projected property tax appeal calendar here.