How assessments and appeals in your community affected property tax bills

Assessor’s Office releases Data Dashboards for Tax Year 2022

Cook County – The Cook County Assessor’s Office (Assessor's Office) created a data dashboard that allows the public to view assessed values at each stage for tax year 2022. The final values reflect this year’s second installment tax bill.

“I’ve promised more transparency into all aspects of the property tax system, not just our office,” said Assessor Fritz Kaegi. “As the latest north suburban tax rates and tax bills arrive, this information provides important insight into how residential and commercial properties share the tax burden.”

The dashboard includes each township in Cook County and demonstrates changes in total assessed values at each stage of the assessment process since last year. At the first stage, the Assessor’s Office sets values and processes appeals. At the second and final stage, the Board of Review adjusts those values based on appeals filed in their office.

It provides a clear view of how the tax burden is split between residential and commercial property owners and the effects of appeals. The dashboard can be viewed here:

Data Dashboard 

The dashboard demonstrates:

• Values set by the Assessor’s office per township in tax year 2022
• Values adjusted by the Board of Review per township in tax year 2022

Although the Assessor’s Office places value on properties, it is not the final arbiter of appeals and assessment changes. The Board of Review, an assessment appeal agency, changed residential AV by -2% and non-residential AV by -20%. As a result of the Board of Review’s work, the final growth in north suburban assessments was 28% for residential properties and 11% for non-residential properties. Because growth in residential properties outpaced non-residential assessed values, this shifted who pays what share of property taxes.

Assessments and appeals are not the only factors that determine the amount of property taxes. A key component is the local tax rate, which is partially determined by the total property tax revenue (levy) each local taxing body, like municipalities and school districts, needs to collect from property taxpayers. 

Other factors affecting tax bills include Tax Increment Financing districts and an Illinois property tax law that allows taxing districts to “recapture” or recover the total of any taxes refunded to property owners who appealed their taxes the previous year.

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