Appealing Your Property Tax Assessment

 Posted on December 00, 0000 in Naperville Real Estate Attorney

As a property owner, whether residential or commercial, you may be shocked when you open your latest property tax bill and see yet another hike in the tax assessment of your property and, as a result, a higher bill to pay. In response, it is common to wonder how your property tax bill has been calculated, and why your property has been assessed for such a high value. Plus, if your property is assessed incorrectly, what can the average Illinois resident do about it?

Illinois property tax rates are calculated according to the assessment of your property and the amount of money that your local taxing district needs in order to operate for the upcoming tax year. County taxing officials determine the assessment of your property. In Cook County, the County Assessor sets your property assessment, whereas in other Illinois counties, a township assessor or supervisor of assessments sets your property assessment.

If you disagree with the amount of your property assessment, your first step would be to appeal the assessment to your county's local board of review. In Cook County, you can file an appeal with the County Assessor or the County Board of Review. You will need to contact these offices in order to find out the filing deadline for an assessment appeal each year. An experienced Cook County property tax attorney can help you with this.

The local board of review for your county will generally issue you a written decision after it reviews your property tax assessment. If you still disagree with the board of review's decision, you can file a further appeal with the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board. You have to file a petition for this appeal within 30 days of the postmarked date of the board of review's written decision, or you lose your right to appeal.

You can contest the amount of your property tax assessment based on your property's fair market value, which can be shown by a recent sale of the property, sale of comparable properties, appraisals of the property, and/or the costs of recent construction on the property. Other grounds for contesting a property tax assessment might include principles of equity or uniformity, in terms of other comparable properties in the area, or other contentions of law.

Your experienced Cook County property tax appeal lawyer can be instrumental in helping you win a property tax assessment appeal, either before your local board of review or before the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board. With the help of our property tax attorneys in Cook County, you can ensure that you paying only the correct amount of taxes that should be assessed for your property.