Our real estate tax team at Rock Fusco & Connelly, LLC continues to work hard fighting to keep your property tax bills as low as possible. Below are key updates on the 2021 and 2022 sessions.
Cook County: 2021: Second installment bills are finally out for 2021. You can view them online (https://bit.ly/3EymH8V) and should receive them in the mail before Thanksgiving. We are stressing to all our Cook County clients to make sure you pay your second installment property tax bills by Dec. 31, 2022 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 to make sure you can utilize your full State And Local Tax (SALT) deduction (up to $10,000) for the 2022 calendar year.
The Assessor’s valuations in 2021 attempted to flip the majority of the property tax burden onto commercial and industrial property owners, from 48% of the burden to 54% of the burden (and it showed in their spike in assessments), even though commercial and industrial properties make up only one-third 0f Cook County real estate (the other two-thirds are residential). After the Board of Review completed its appeal session, the majority of the property tax burden shifted back to residential owners 53%-47%. Keep in mind that still means that the one-third of commercial and industrial owners are still paying nearly half the property tax burden.
As noted in the Chicago Tribune, the Assessor, however, “plans to re-set values on some Chicago commercial properties this year to bring them closer to his original assessments. That’s a break from the past: Typically, the assessor values properties in the county once every three years, but Kaegi has decided to make an exception in Chicago in response to the Board of Review’s reductions.” (https://bit.ly/3V2vHZz, subscription required) That means that commercial and industrial owners in Chicago will still have to keep an eye out for any notifications of valuation spikes from the Assessor’s Office for 2022 and 2023.
2022: The northern Cook County suburbs are up for reassessment this year. As such, those in Barrington, Elk Grove, Evanston, Hanover, Leyden, Maine, New Trier, Niles, Northfield, Norwood Park, Palatine, Schaumburg, and Wheeling townships have received new assessments for the triennial cycle.
The Assessor’s Office has opened and closed the window for 85% of Cook County townships for 2022 and has just started certifying values this month. That means that the 2022 appeal session will be opening up soon at the Board of Review, likely after the two newly elected commissioners (George Cardenas and Samantha Steele) are sworn-in on December 1.
We advise anyone who has suffered from vacancy issues over the past year or suffered income losses related to the pandemic to make sure to document attempts to lease the vacant space, tenant concessions, deferred rents, photographs of the vacancy, and projections for a path to stabilization.
Collar Counties: 2022: The window for appeals in all collar counties – DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will – has opened and closed for all townships. The appeal sessions before the individual Boards of Review have started and hearings are ongoing.
Rock Fusco & Connelly, LLC is here to serve all your property tax needs from appeals to exemptions to incentives. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or requests.