❖ A truth room · always Charter
Understand your property tax
Read your own bill, one line at a time. We explain the line. We never tell you what to do, we never file anything for you, and nobody can tell you how an appeal will turn out — including us. For where a tax dollar goes once it is collected, see where your dollar goes.
If you think it is too high
How to appeal your property tax
An appeal argues what your home is worth. It does not argue the tax rate, and it does not argue the size of the bill.
Read your bill
Get your tax bill out. Look for the part that says what your home is worth. That number is called the assessed value. The town uses it to work out what you owe. Your bill may call it a notice. Keep it close. You will need it for every step.
On your own bill: Find the assessed value on your own bill and write it down. Every step after this one uses it.
What is the number on your bill that says what your home is worth called?
The assessed value.
Check your property record
Your county keeps a record of your home. It lists how big it is. It lists how many rooms and baths you have. It may list a garage or a deck. Read it line by line. If it says you have three baths and you have one, that is an error. An error like that can make your value too high.
On your own bill: Pull up your county's record for your home. Read it next to what you can see from your chair.
Why does a wrong number of baths matter?
Because the county works out what your home is worth from that list. A wrong line can make the value too high.
Compare homes like yours
Find homes near you that are much like yours. Same size. Same age. Same street if you can. Look at what your county says each one is worth. If your home is worth much more than theirs on paper, write that down. That gap is the heart of most appeals.
On your own bill: Write down three homes like yours, and what your county says each is worth.
What are you looking for when you compare your home to the ones near it?
A gap. Your home valued much higher than homes that are much the same.
Check your exemptions
An exemption takes money off what you owe. Many places have one for the home you live in. Some have one if you are older. Some have one if you were hurt in the armed forces. Look at your bill and see which ones you got. If one is missing, ask your county about it. This is a different job from an appeal, and it is often the faster one.
On your own bill: Read the list of exemptions on your own bill. Are any you expected not there?
Is asking for a missing exemption the same job as an appeal?
No. It is a different job, and it is often faster.
Find your deadline
You only get to appeal in a set window of days. Miss it and you wait a year. The date is nearly always printed on your own notice. Look there first. We will not guess your date. A wrong date could cost you a whole year.
On your own bill: Find the last date to file on your own notice and put it in your phone now.
Where is the best place to find the date you must file by?
On your own notice. It is nearly always printed there.
File with your local office
Send your appeal to the office that sent you the notice. Most let you file on paper or on a web page. Send what you found: the errors in your record, and the homes like yours. Keep a copy of all of it. Ask them to tell you when they get it.
On your own bill: Look at who sent your notice. That name and address is where your appeal goes.
Which office do you send your appeal to?
The one that sent you the notice.
If they say no
A no is not the end. Most places let you go up a step. In Cook County you start at the Assessor. Next is the Board of Review. After that comes the state board, or a court. Each step has its own rules and its own dates. Ask the office for both.
On your own bill: Have you had a no already? Ask that office two things. What is the next step? When does it close?
If the first office says no, is that the end?
No. Most places let you go up a step, and each step has its own dates.
Your deadline
Cook County, Illinois: About 30 days from the date on the reassessment notice, and the exact last date is printed on the notice itself.
“Typically, you have 30 days to file an appeal after receiving your reassessment notice. The last date to file an appeal for that year is printed on your notice. If you miss your appeal period in your reassessment year, you may appeal the following year when your township is open for appeals.”
- Cook County Assessor's Office — The assessed value of the property. About 30 days after the reassessment notice. The last date is printed on the notice.
- Cook County Board of Review — Hears the appeal again after the Assessor has decided.
- Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) — A state-level appeal after the county Board of Review.
- The circuit court — A court case instead of, or after, the other steps.
Anywhere else: We have not read your county's rules yet. We will not guess a deadline, because a wrong date costs you a year.
- Your assessment notice or tax bill. The office that sent it is the office that hears the appeal, and the deadline is usually printed on it.
- Search for your county's name plus 'assessor' and look for a page about appeals.
- Ring the assessor's office and ask two questions: when does my appeal period open and close, and what do I have to send you.
- Your state may also have a board that hears appeals after the county. The assessor's office will name it.
We have read 1 of about 3,143 counties. That number is printed rather than rounded up.
This is education. It is not legal advice and it is not tax advice. If real money or a deadline is at stake, talk to somebody who does this for a living in your county.