With one day remaining for Cook County residents to file a property tax appeal, we’ve created a guide to appeal for those who haven’t submitted their appeal yet – and for those who want to check it twice.
This year, property taxes spiked across Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, hitting homeowners in Black communities the hardest.
For Cook County residents who think their property taxes might’ve been too high, or who want to see their taxes lowered for future tax dates, the clock is ticking.
The Cook County Board of Review (BOR) reopened the filing window for property assessment appeals last week, and that window is set to close on Dec. 12 or Dec. 19, depending on the township where you live. Notably, BOR only opened tax appeals for 24 out of Cook County’s 38 townships.
The appeal process can be confusing, as Board analyst Katrina Schmidt said during a virtual appeal forum last week. To help you navigate it, TCR prepared a guide on basic steps to file an appeal, as well as some background on the key players involved in the assessment – and re-assessment – of property value.
Why file an appeal?
Property owners are qualified to file for an appeal under six potential situations: property assessment is too high, recent purchase of the property, recent completion of a property appraisal, vacancy, demolition of the property and damage caused by water or fire.
The BOR analyst advised property owners to always check the information on their second installment bill – the one sent during the Summer – since it is the first bill to reflect the most recent property assessment.
Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office has already been called out for inaccuracies like miscalculated square footage of homes or misclassified properties, which can lead to tax bills costing thousands more dollars than they should.
Example of what a second-installment property tax bill looks like. Source: Cook County Assessor’s Office
Appeals to the Board might impact only future property tax bills.
In other words, the next property tax bill that could be affected by successful appeals is the one scheduled to be sent in the Summer of 2026. This bill will reflect the 2025 property assessments for the first time, even though it is called the “second installment.”
Appeals filed during the current filing window will not impact the property tax bill due next week, on December 15. If homeowners notice something wrong with this property tax bill, they should still pay it, then file a Certificate of Error request, which can only be initiated at the Assessor’s Office, and ask for a refund, which is a process different from the appeal.
The appeal process
Appeals to the Board can be filed in person, on paper, or online. The Board encourages citizens to register in the upper left corner of the Board’s website before filing appeals, so they can receive updates and results via email. People who submit appeals as guests receive updates only by mail.
Source: Cook County Board of Review
Evidence necessary for residential appeals includes information on comparable properties in the same neighborhood that are similar in age, construction style, and other characteristics; market information on similar properties in the area, considering property value factors and adjustments; and dated photographs that can prove vacancy, flood or fire damage to the property.
When filing the appeal form, applicants can choose to present additional evidence or request a hearing, which are optional. Hearings can be held in person or by phone.
If the applicant chooses to present additional evidence, their process remains in the Board’s queue for a little longer, giving the applicant time to collect the additional documents they want to present. Applicants have until 10 days after their township is closed to submit new evidence, which will fall on December 22.
It takes six to 18 weeks for the Board to process an appeal, and the results may be emailed or sent through the United States Postal Service.
Who analyzes appeals
In general, appeals can be filed with the Cook County Assessor’s Office or with the Board. However, the new filing windows for previously closed townships apply only to appeals submitted to the Board, whose main function is to oversee the work of the Assessor’s Office.
The Board does not determine property values. It only analyzes appeals presented by citizens who noticed inconsistencies in their property assessment. When analyzing these appeals, the Board can never increase the property’s value, but only maintain or reduce it.