Cook County Property Taxes seem to almost always increase. Every year homeowners receive a property tax bill and many are shocked at what they see.

 

In Cook County, property taxes are paid in arrears What does that mean? 

The tax bill is for the prior year and is billed in two installments. The first installment is a % of last year's tax bill. The second installment reflects the assessed value for the tax year they are invoicing and applies the state equalizer and state tax rate to arrive at the tax amount due. Any exemptions that were received from the Cook County assessors' office will be applied to the tax due as a credit on the second installment. 

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Who determines the fair market value of my home for my tax bill?

The Cook County Assessors' office is responsible for assigning and reassessing 1.8 million residential properties in Cook County. They compare the sales in the area using a statistical model and develop a fair market value on your home based on comparing characteristics and sales prices.  
 

The Cook County Assessors' site has a great graphic see below:

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For more information visit: 

https://www.cookcountyassessor.com/cook-county-property-tax-system 

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​For 2019 taxes payable in 2020 - the equalizer is 2.916 
For more info:   
https://www2.illinois.gov/rev/research/taxstats/PropertyTaxStatistics/Pages/FinalEqualizationFactors.aspx

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Estimated Market Value = This is the final value of your property for the year being taxed - if you appealed and won, it is the new lower value, if you did not appeal or you appealed and did not win, it is the value per the assessors' record.

Your property record on the assessors' site reflect the assessed value = 10% of the estimated market value

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   Example Homeowner received $210,000 value with a homeowner exemption - this is an example not factual)

     Appealed and won $200,000   Appealed            Did not appeal

                                                     

   Estimated market value          $ 200,000.00            $ 210,000.00

   Assessment Level (10%)                    x  0.10                     x  0.10   

   Proposed Assessed Value        $  20,000.00            $   21,000.00
   2019 State Equalizer                       x 2.916                      x 2.916

   Equalized Assessed Value        $ 58,320.00             $   61,236.00
   2019 Local Tax rate                       x 9.024%                   x 9.024%

   2019 Tax before exemotions    $   5,262.80             $     5,658.21

     homeowners exemption               (902.40)                    (902.40) 

   Total 2019 Tax tp pay 2020        $  4,360.40              $   4 ,755.81

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   As you can see from the example if a homeowner had been assessed at $210,000 with a property assessed value of $21,000 they would pay more in taxes since they did not appeal and had the higher assessed value.