Chicago

[Farmgirl97]

What is the timeframe for appealing property taxes in Cook County? Can you file an appeal upon purchasing a property that has significantly declined in value, or must you wait until the next assessment cycle?

[PropTaxPro]

Cook County mails out assessment notices May through December. You typically have 30 days to file though it varies by Township. The actual deadlines can be found on the Cook County Assessor's 

website. The 2009 mailing dates and deadlines have not been posted yet.

Good Luck!

Message Edited by ChrisG on 04-22-2009 03:33 PM

[BradWalbrun]

When you purcahse a house, the new assessed value is based on the purchase price, so historically, taxes went up with the new ower as home values went up, but that's not usually true these days with declining values.

Anecdotal reports I get say that almost everybody who appeals gets them lowered some, but not by as much as they had hoped, and that the process was longer and more painful than expected.

Best of luck to you.

[NoPainDave]

I'm responding REALLY late to this post as I'm brand new to this forum, so I apologize if my information is coming to you too late.

You can file an appeal at ANY time, regardless of decling values, reassessment year, or any other factor.  If you have a case for appeal, you need to file at the first available opportunity.

Also, I've seen a number of folks in this forum mention the Assessor's appeal process, but I have yet to see anything about the Cook County Board of Review.  If you don't get what you're looking for at the Assessor, you can file an appeal to the Board (which also opens for 30-day periods by township), and if you STILL aren't satisfied, an appeal can be made to the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB), which oversees the Board of Review.

Unlike other counties, you can file to the Board, even if you miss filing before the Assessor.  You do have to file to the Board of Review, however, in order to file to the PTAB.

I need to politely counter what someone in this thread mentioned about a property being reassessed by the Assessor based on the purchase price at the time of purchase.  This very rarely is the case.  The sale will be considered by the Assessor at the time of the property's triennial reassessment, but I've only known of one instance (out of thousands) in which a property was actually increased in assessment at the time of a sale.

Good luck in your appeal!