Providing Property Tax Relief Since 1999
In 1716, Christopher Bullock in The Cobbler of Preston wrote, “‘Tis impossible to be sure of any thing but Death and Taxes.”
Considering the growing, unfunded pension liabilities of Chicago and the suburbs, you can count on further property tax increases.
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For many years, Jack Schaller of Chicago’s oldest continuously operating bar, paid zero property taxes in the face of ballooning increases – and this is completely legal and fair.
Why? Because he was a veteran and a senior and he took advantage of all exemptions available to him.
If you’re a veteran homeowner in Cook County and you’re not claiming any veteran-related exemptions, you are likely paying much more than your fair share. After all, you’ve served your country so you should at least claim the exemptions you deserve.
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Are you still recovering from receiving the second installment of your Cook County property tax bill? If so, you’re not alone.
Even celebrities and business executives are struggling with their property tax bills, some of which have increased well over 100%.
They may be able to pay, but everyone is feeling the pain. Consider the examples below and remember: the only way to reduce your property taxes is to appeal them.
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Time was when Chicagoland homebuyers could expect to pay 2-2.5% of their home’s purchase price in property taxes. Today, that figure is close to 4%, emphasized a July 26 article posted on The Woodstock Independent.
“People used to say, ‘How much is this house?’ Now their first question is ‘What are the taxes?'” Woodstock real estate agent Rick Bellairs is quoted as saying in the article.
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Last month, the Kensington Research & Recovery team took a break from reducing property taxes for our Cook County homeowners to volunteer at the Inspiration Café in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood.
This was our third year in a row and it was just as rewarding as in previous years.
The Inspiration Café is located at 4554 N. Broadway. Administered by the Inspiration Corporation, the café is one of many services offered to the homeless. The Café provides meals to its programs’ participants, treating them with dignity and respect, while they order from a menu and enjoy their meal in a clean, inviting setting.
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The deadline for Cook County homeowners to pay the second installment of their 2015 property taxes has now passed. Anyone who failed to meet the Aug. 1 deadline will need to pay a 1.5% interest penalty, assessed each month of the delinquency.
Worse: your tax liens can be sold to investors during the county treasurer’s annual tax sale, after you receive a formal written warning. The individuals and organizations that buy tax liens frequently receive high interest rates on the taxes that they buy—as much as 36% a year. If you don’t pay off the lien by the end of the redemption period, the tax buyer can acquire legal title to your property.
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Besides Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s $588 million property tax increase, approved by the Chicago City Council last fall for police and fire department pensions and school construction, Chicago homeowners will face an additional $250 million tax levy to pay for teacher pensions. This amount is $80 million more than Emanuel originally proposed for teacher pensions over a year ago.
As the Chicago Sun-Times reported, the hike is the result of a compromise deal between the Illinois Legislature and the City of Chicago, which didn’t receive as much money as it had hoped for from the State. A top mayoral aide quoted anonymously in the article said, “We didn’t get quite as much as we wanted from Springfield. The State is stepping up. They wanted to see the city step up.” As a result, Chicago homeowners will be paying up.
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If you suspect that you’re paying too much in property taxes, consider this: Illinois has the highest median property tax rate in the United States, with various taxing agencies levying a combined rate of 2.67%, according to a nationwide analysis by CoreLogic, an Irvine-based research firm serving the global real estate and financial services industries.
The average median property tax rate across the country is 1.31%, which means that the owner of a home valued at $200,000 would pay annual property taxes totaling $2,620. In Illinois, however, a homeowner would pay $5,340 a year on a property of the same value. In Hawaii, which has the lowest median property tax rate at 0.31%, homeowners pay only $620 per year.
Only six other US states, all but one in the Northeast, have median property tax rates of more than 2%. As the Chicago Tribune points out, the states that border Illinois in the Midwest all have considerably lower property tax burdens: Indiana (0.88%), Missouri (1.26%), Iowa (1.69%) and Wisconsin (1.95%).
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Right before the start of the long 4th of July weekend, the Illinois Legislature passed and Governor Bruce Rauner signed into law a stopgap budget that provides a year of funding for the state’s public elementary and secondary schools and six months of financing for higher education, social service agencies, state operations and capital projects.
Chicago Public Schools (CPS), the clear winner in the deal, will receive $100 million of a $250 million statewide poverty grant targeted to low-income school districts. Who will pay for this? If you own a home in Cook County, it’s you and the only relief you have is to appeal your property taxes.
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Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump has garnered much negative press coverage over his alleged avoidance of paying his fair share of Cook County property taxes. The Chicago Sun-Times has reported that Trump hired a Chicago firm to represent him in his successful efforts to slash the property taxes on Trump International Hotel & Tower by $11.7 million (or 39%) over seven years.
Although he openly admits that he tries to minimize his tax burden, it turns out that Trump has been a victim of ineptitude on the county’s part. As the Chicago Sun-Times reports, “Cook County tax officials mistakenly believed billionaire Donald Trump didn’t pay all the property taxes owed on his namesake Chicago skyscraper, shorting schools and other government agencies. They were wrong.”
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Over 90% Success Rate on Property Tax Appeals & Protests
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