Property Tax Assessment Process
Every three years in Cook County and every four years in surrounding counties, property owners receive a notice from their county assessor’s office announcing the assessed value of their property. Assessments are applied to properties on a mass scale, with little or no consideration to an individual property’s circumstances. Therefore, any changes in assessed value may result in higher real estate taxes.
Assessed values can be challenged. The property tax appeals system allows you, the property owner, to appeal your assessment and reduce your property taxes by hundreds or even thousands of dollars, depending on your property’s circumstances. We can help.
When you contact our office, we make a fast, honest assessment of your property’s value compared to the county’s recorded information. Other factors which may impact your property assessment valuations include:
- Your income and the actual expenses related to the property
- Sales price of the property compared to similar properties
- Real estate market movements, in general
- Whether the property has been vacant for any period of time
- Any damage to the property, such as flood damage or mold
- Any environmental contamination
- Undevelopable or landlocked property
Law Offices of Gary H. Smith can handle the entire appeals process for you. We have a long, successful history representing property owners in helping them reduce their property taxes. Historically, we have been successful in lowering the property taxes of more than 80 per cent of our clients.
In the typical appeals process, we take the following action:
- Conduct a thorough review of the assessor’s property records and assessment information
- File property tax appeals documents with the local assessor’s office and/or appropriate governing boards
- Represent you at assessment hearings and, if required, in Circuit Court
- Pursue any other necessary actions to obtain a lawful and equitable assessment
In most instances, you pay no legal fees – not even a start-up authorization fee – unless we are successful in reducing your assessment and property taxes.