Q & A

TOP TEN QUESTIONS ABOUT APPEALS

All property owners have a right to appeal every year at three levels: the assessor, county board of review and the state level known as PTAB.

  1. A RECENT PURCHASE- If you purchased your property in the last three years it indicates market value. Comparable property sales market values are useful as well.
  2. LACK OF UNIFORMITY- This is the most common reason and most successful reason to appeal. The Illinois constitution requires that all properties receive similar assessments per sq. ft. as similar properties.
  3. FACTUAL ERROR- Using the grounds that the assessor has INCORRECT physical characteristics on a property and therefore the assessment requires a ADJUSTED reduction.
  4. VACANCY-If your property is uninhabitable for a period of time due to rehab, fire, loss of tenant, flood or government closings ie. COVID .

By submitting evidence to support why your assessment is too high, either by yourself if residential or by hiring a professional tax appeal firm or tax law firm. Corporate owned property in Illinois requires law firm representation. Filing evidence requires timely filing during the published time frames posted in each county/township and at each level of the appeal cycle.

Once the appeal evidence has been submitted and the 30-day township deadline window has closed, it takes around 60 days to receive the results. This time frame can vary based on the number of appeals that have been filed at the Assessor’s Office.

In Cook County, the assessor typically opens in a 30 day windows starting in February and opens 4 to 5 of the 38 townships at a one time. Once the assessor certifies his decisions, then the Board of Review opens for filings in a 30 day window by township, starting in late summer. The state level known as PTAB requires you to file within a 30 day windows from the date of the Board of Review decision. You may only file at PTAB if you file at the county board of review FIRST. The other 101 counties of Illinois (non- cook) open up assessor appeals in summer and complete. Their cycles from May thru December. You need to check your township schedule by contacting your township assessor every spring.

Once you receive your decision, you will take the newly provided assessment reduction amount and multiply it by your tax rate. This will project how much your new rate will be.

This is where we come in. There are dozens of factors in determining what your actual assessed value should be. Provided we simply have your property pin, our computers and formulas can provide a “Guestimate” of what your value will be after an appeal.

In Cook County, every 3 years the assessor sends a proposed typical ‘increased assessment letter” to you. It is up to you to fight it according to his township schedule. In the other 101 counties of Illinois, you get re assessed every year to 4 years. It varies from township to township.

Typically, “no”, they usually will only issue a no change decision or a lower assessment decision on a appeal. Unless you did not add an improvement that the assessor did not know about, the three levels will review your evidence and keep assessment the same or lower it. This process is a poor man’s court and you have a right to appeal every year. If you do not appeal, your tax bill will continue to creep up!

Typically, the use of a mass appraisal computer modeling method using various data sets. Lower Property Taxes uses the full township data sets of info on each property and uses exclusive propriatary computer algorithms to derive good assessment evidence to lower your assesments. The assessor computer generates many errors because they generate assessments on 30,000 to 2,000,000 properties in a short window each year. Appeals help generate fair and equitable assessment by cleansing out mistakes. This is why you should always appeal.

Your bill shows the assessment derived based on the market value the assessor places on your property. The assessment multiplied by the local tax rate plus any state equalizer factored in, provides you the amount due. Less any exemption amounts your property is entitled to (i.e. Homestead, senior exemption etc.). Your bill is collected in two installments and times of collection varies from county to county

Equalization Factor: the factor that should be applied to local assessments to bring about the percentage of increase or decrease that will result in an equalized assessed value equal to one-third of the market value of taxable property in a jurisdiction.

Equalized Assessed Value: the assessed value multiplied by the state-certified equalization factor. Tax bills are calculated by multiplying the equalized assessed value minus any exemptions by the tax rate.

Exemption: a reduction in the assessed value of a property. Will County offers many exemptions, including a general homestead exemptions and exemptions for senior citizens, veterans, and disabled persons.

Levy: the amount of money a taxing body certifies to be raised from the property tax.

Market Value: the most probable sale price of a property in a competitive and open market, assuming that the buyer and seller are acting prudently and knowledgeably, allowing sufficient time for the sale, and assuming that the transaction is not affected by undue pressures.

Tax Code: a number used by the county clerk that refers to a specific combination of taxing bodies.

Tax Rate: the amount of tax due stated in terms of a percentage of the tax base within a certain tax code.

Taxing Body/Taxing District: a local governmental unit that levies a property tax. Taxing districts include school districts, park districts, fire protection districts, and municipalities, among others.

Total Assessed Value (Tax Base): the sum of all real property within a taxing district.

Do Nothing and Your Property Taxes Will
Continue to Creep Up!!

We’ll take care of helping you enjoy a winning bite at the tax appeal apple

Assessor
County Board of Review (BOR)
IL Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB)

Less than 20% of your neighbors appealed last year.