Citing this year’s record property tax hikes, the Cook County Board of Review is giving taxpayers another brief shot at knocking down their bills for next year.
Every Cook County township will re-open for appeals to property tax assessments, the county’s estimate of a home or business’ value, through December 12.
Successful appeals won’t offer any immediate relief on the bills that just landed, however. Any savings would apply to next year’s second installment bills, which typically land in the summer. People who already appealed aren’t eligible.
Taxpayers will have through December 22 to submit accompanying evidence. Filing is free. It can be completed online, in-person at the county building or at one of a series of upcoming Board of Review events. Homeowner appeals do not require an attorney.
The latest round of tax bills, due December 15, doubled for many South and West Side homeowners, but fell for big commercial Loop buildings. The bills’ arrival has fueled finger-pointing on the Chicago City Council and among county candidates who face primary voters in March.
All three commissioners on the board — two of whom are up for re-election — used a Thursday press conference to announce the additional appeal time to criticize Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, who set the initial values of Chicago properties last year that ended up on this year’s bills.
Commissioner Larry Rogers, a Kaegi adversary, said the assessor should issue mass corrections — called certificates of error — for neighborhoods like North Lawndale and Englewood that saw significant assessment hikes. Those neighborhoods are also the least likely to appeal, a recent study from the county treasurer showed.
“Fritz Kaegi, with the stroke of a pen, can correct those valuations” by issuing those certificates, Rogers said, pointing to prior adjustments Kaegi made to assessments during the pandemic and in floodplain areas.
Kaegi spokesman Christian Belanger pointed the finger back at the Board, saying their downward adjustment to commercial properties were the reason areas like North Lawndale and Englewood saw “unfair and unjust” bills. The floodplain and COVID-19 adjustments were made long before bills came out, not retroactively.
“Moreover, Illinois lacks a circuit breaker-type program to protect homeowners against sudden property tax spikes, which is why Assessor Kaegi has worked with legislators to file a bill in Springfield that would protect against these spikes,” the statement continued.
The assessor has so far failed to win approval of his circuit-breaker idea, which he hopes the state would fund. Kaegi’s office does plan to hold events on the South and West Side next week for taxpayers that believe there were errors like incorrect square footage, property classifications or missing exemptions.
The time it will take to get through another appeals window might contribute to bill delays next year, officials acknowledged. But they argued the county’s upgrade with Tyler Technologies already set the property tax offices back “two or three” cycles. The next round of bills — equal to 55% of this year’s total — are slated to be due in April 2026.
