If I bought my house for a certain amount in 2007 (I live in Lakeview) and now the sales in the neighborhood are lower AND I have comparables that are assessed lower, will the Board of Review lower my assessed value below the assessment that would be indicated by the purchase price?

Up until a few years ago, the Board would look at any arms length transaction of a residential property and apply ten percent of the purchase price as the assessment if the property was sold within the past three years.  If the assessment was already below ten percent of the purchase price, they would leave the assessment where it was and not take into account nearby comparable property assessments.  However, that policy has changed.  Now in light of declining market values and the fact that reassessments are not keeping up with those new lower values, if the purchase price does not justify an assessment reduction, the Board will review comparable properties and consider those comparables along with the purchase price to determine what the assessment should be.

A successful appeal usually means that your tax bill will be lower than it otherwise would have been if your assessment had not been reduced. However, it is possible for your assessment to go down and your tax bill to go up since increasing local tax levies and rates have a significant impact on property taxes.

On the second installment which usually is mailed out during the last three months of the year.

You can file an appeal with the assessor on-line by going to http://www.cookcountyassessor.com or you can mail your complaint to the Assessor at 118 N. Clark, Chicago, IL 60602. Board of Review complaint forms can be downloaded from their web site at http://www.cookcountyboardofreview.com. Complaints cannot be filed electronically and must be delivered by hand to any of their five suburban satellite offices or mailed to their downtown office in the same building as the Assessor.

All property owners who file an assessment appeal at the Board of Review have the right to an oral hearing before a Deputy Commissioner/Analyst (Judge) who will listen to your case and then review your written evidence.  If you know when you file your complaint that you do not want a hearing,  then initial the box on the complaint form indicating that you do not want a hearing.  Otherwise, you will automatically receive a letter in the mail designating a date and time you must appear downtown at the Board for your hearing. If you later decide not to attend the hearing, that's ok as long as you have submitted written documentation of your evidence showing that you are over-assessed.  The Analysts at the Board of Review may also at their discresion use information about comparable properties and recent sales to help in determining whether or not your property is over assessed.

Assessments can be appealed at the Cook County Assessor’s office, the Cook County Board of Review, the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) and Cook County Circuit Court.  Appeals to the Assessor and the Board of Review may only be filed at specific times during the year depending on which township your property is located.  You can find out whether your township is open for appeal by going to the web sites for each of those agencies.  Appeals to the PTAB can only be made if you have previously filed an appeal at the Board of Review for the tax year in question and must be made within thirty days of the date on the letter you receive from the Board informing you of their decision.  If you choose to file a case at the circuit court, you automatically forego the opportunity to appeal at PTAB and vice-versa.

The Cook County Assessor assesses all property in Cook County on a triennial basis. Property in North suburban Cook County is being reassessed in 2010, property in south suburban Cook County will be reassessed in 2011 and all Chicago property will be reassessed in 2012.

There is no difference in results whether an attorney files on your behalf or if you do it yourself assuming you know how to put together a convincing case. However, if you are willing to pay the attorney's fee, you can sit back and let him do the work. Otherwise do the work yourself and save the fee.