Cook County Real Estate Taxes — More Bad News for Homeowners

As if the real estate market hasn’t had it bad enough this year, Cook County’s real estate tax bills will be coming out soon and will be due on November 3, 2008, and unfortunately, the taxes are going up.

While home prices are plummeting, real estate taxes are not. In fact, Cook County’s north and northwest suburban homes were reassessed last year. The second installment tax bill that homeowners will soon receive will include these increased assessments. Unfortunately, the increased assessments are valued as of January 1, 2007, before the housing market crashed. Therefore homeowners will be paying taxes based on home values inflated beyond where they are today.

The City of Chicago will not be reassessed until 2009. In the meantime, their property taxes are still based on home values as on January 1, 2006, when the housing market was peaking. Some Chicago homeowners will thus see large increases in their tax bills this fall.

Southern Cook County suburbs are being reassessed this year; therefore tax increases in that area based on assessed value increases should be negligible, if any. Additionally, when the new assessed values for southern Cook County are complete, homes should be valued as of January 1, 2008. It remains to be seen what sort of tax increase southern Cook County homeowners will face in coming years.

If your taxes have gone up, you still have options! You can appeal the property taxes and attempt to get a reduction. If the time for filing an appeal has passed, the property can still be appealed through the Board of Review. Filing deadlines are strict and must be stringently adhered to. You can also contact an attorney specializing in real estate tax reductions to assist you.