Your property tax bill in Chicago and Cook County is based on the assessed value of your property. That value, in turn, is based on a large number of factors. When even one of those factors changes, the assessed value of your property could go up.

The Cook County Assessor’s Office has a lot of information about your property, but they can’t keep track of everything.

It’s up to you to make them aware of changes in your property that might affect your assessment. And the way you do that is to file an appeal of your property’s assessed valuation.

Some of these changes are obvious. If you own a lot in a commercial zone, for example, and the main building has been torn down, the value of the property clearly has dropped and your assessment should be lowered, too.

If your property (or one in your neighborhood) is in disrepair or vacant, you may be successful in appealing your property’s assessed valuation. This is an example of “economic depreciation.”

Other factors may be less obvious.

Should You Appeal Your Cook County Property Tax Assessment?

When my office prepares to appeal a client’s assessment — whether it’s a large factory or a small single-family home — we analyze many factors.

If you can answer “yes” to any of these questions, you should consider filing an appeal.

  • Do you believe your taxes are too high? Do you believe the value placed on your property is too high?
  • Has the condition of the building(s) changed? Has the structure fallen into disrepair?
  • Has the building become obsolete? For example, if it’s a factory, has business gone down because the factory equipment is no longer state-of-the-art? (Economists call this “functional depreciation.”)
  • Has the neighborhood fallen on hard times, with less customer traffic to your retail store or strip mall? (This would be called “economic depreciation.”)
  • Has there been a sharp reduction in occupancy. An office building with, let’s say, even 80 percent occupancy could be considered disadvantaged.
  • Has a change in traffic patterns, possibly due to street repair, caused a temporary decrease in customer traffic?
  • Are there vacancies in surrounding properties, making your location less desirable?
  • Has the population of the neighborhood dropped, meaning that fewer potential customers live nearby?

There are many other factors that could affect your assessment. Give me a call, tell me about your property and I’ll help you work through the basis of your appeal. And keep in mind that my office policy is to charge no fee unless your assessment is reduced.

 

Property taxes unappealing? KSN can help.

Appealing your Illinois property taxes is one way to ensure that the amount you pay is fair whether you live in the north/northwest Chicago suburbs, south/southwest Chicago suburbs, or in the City of Chicago.

Since 2015, KSN has worked diligently to save our clients over $150 million in reduced property tax assessments. We handle property tax appeals from start to finish for every type of property including:

We work on a contingency fee basis. You pay no legal fees unless an assessment reduction is achieved.

Questions about our property tax appeal services? Contact us by calling 847-537-0500 or by visiting www.ksnlaw.com/tax-appeal.

 

Please note the material contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. No attorney-client relationship is established by your review or receipt of the information contained in this article. You should not act on the information discussed in this article without first obtaining legal advice from an attorney duly licensed to practice law in your State. While KSN has made every effort to include up-to-date information in this article, the law can change quickly. Accordingly, please understand that information discussed in this article may not yet reflect the most recent legal developments. Material is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or up to date. KSN reserves the right to revise or update the information and statements of law discussed in the article law at any time, without notice, and disclaims any liability for your use of information or statements of law discussed on the article, or the accessibility of the article generally. This article may be considered advertising in some jurisdictions under applicable law/s and/or ethical rules/regulations. © 2023 Kovitz Shifrin Nesbit, A Professional Corporation.