3 Important Things to Consider About Appealing Property Taxes

Property taxes are going to be reassessed this year, but you don’t necessarily have to accept the results. Today I’d like to explain the process of submitting an appeal.

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2018 marks a property tax reassessment year, which tends to mean that homeowners can expect a higher bill. But homeowners in Chicago and elsewhere in Cook County should know that it is possible to avoid paying this increased cost by making an appeal to the county.

There are three things you should know about what this entails.

1. You can appeal the county’s assessed value of your taxes. The county uses recent sales information as an estimate upon which to base your property’s reassessed value. If you feel that your property has been overvalued, you can appeal by providing information to the county that supports your case for a lower value. If you live within a townhome or condo association, your board or association may already have plans to retain an attorney and put forth an appeal on behalf of all homeowners.
2. You have a 30-day deadline to file your appeal once you receive your reassessment notice. So keep your eye on the mail for a notice of proposed reassessed value. The challenging part of filing an appeal is that all townships within the county are on their own schedule for releasing these notices. I would be happy to help you relieve some of this difficulty by sending you all the forms and information you’ll need when you do receive your notice. So please reach out.
3. You can’t make your taxes higher by filing an appeal. Some property owners wrongly assume that if they “open a can of worms” by filing this appeal, the county may come back with an even higher assessed value than what they indicated the first notice. But this isn’t the case. There’s really nothing to lose from the process of filing an appeal.

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