Elliott & Associates hosted a round table discussion the challenges hoteliers today face in appealing their property taxes. Attached is the agenda for the meeting held on September 18, 2018. Speakers included Brian Silberman (CBRE), Adam Zimmerman (Hilco), Lauren Elliott, Joanne Elliott, & Tom Glynn. ![]()
0 Comments
Michael Elliott presents from minute 48:17-1:12:402018 Chicago Reassessment: What can you expect?
The Assessor will begin mailing re-assessment notices in February. 2018. He will reassess 7 Chicago townships and will mail notices one township at a time from February through September. The Assessor will announce his anticipated mailing schedule in January and we will. in turn. notify you Assessments:
Tax rates:
When should you hire your attorney?
©Copyright 2017 Elliott & Associates Attorneys, P.C. Revised: November 30, 2017
The Cook County Clerk’s office recently released the 2015 property tax rates. This is last step in the tax process before tax bills are mailed at the end of this month. Tax bills are expected to be due August 1, 2016. Here are some of the major factors that will likely impact your 2015 tax bill:
You can download the Clerk’s full report: click below ![]()
2015 was a quadrennial reassessment year for the 5 collar counties surrounding Cook County and 2015 assessments were adjusted to reflect 2015 market values. During the remaining years of the 2015 quadrennial (2016 to 2018), assessments will be adjusted annually by local “factors”, which adjust assessments for appreciation in real estate values since the 2015 quadrennial reassessment. The collar county assessing officials report that 2015 factors will range from 3% to 12% depending on the township, but that most are expected to be in the 6% to 7% range. |
2016_06_09_2016-non-cook_equalization-factors.pdf | |
File Size: | 225 kb |
File Type: |
Our clients often ask us questions about their assessments, whether appeals are feasible and how a rising assessment may impact their tax bill.
If you would like to review our answers to these commonly asked questions, download the file below:

2016-06-08_non-cook_commercial-faqs.pdf | |
File Size: | 346 kb |
File Type: |
Did you ever wonder what the Cook County equalizer is?
Cook County recently announced that it’s final equalizer for 2015 is 2.6685. That means that all Cook County assessments are increased nearly 3 times before the local tax rate is applied to determine the amount of tax you pay. The equalizer is a number computed by statisticians that raises all Cook County assessments by the same amount so that it can be said that after the equalizer is applied aggregate Cook County assessments are 33% of the aggregate market value of Cook County property. It is necessary to apply an equalizer in Cook County because our assessments are so low relative to the rest of the state and school aid is based on equalized assessed values. In Cook County, homes (the bulk of the tax base) are assessed at 10% of market value and commercial property is assessed at 25% of market value. Everywhere else in Illinois, property is assessed at 33% of market value. So, the Cook County tax base is assessed much lower than the rest of the state. The Cook County equalizer raises our assessments so that after the equalizer is applied, statisticians can say that Cook County property is, in the aggregate, assessed at 33% of its market value.
If you would like to see a technical explanation of how the equalizer is computed, download the file below:
Cook County recently announced that it’s final equalizer for 2015 is 2.6685. That means that all Cook County assessments are increased nearly 3 times before the local tax rate is applied to determine the amount of tax you pay. The equalizer is a number computed by statisticians that raises all Cook County assessments by the same amount so that it can be said that after the equalizer is applied aggregate Cook County assessments are 33% of the aggregate market value of Cook County property. It is necessary to apply an equalizer in Cook County because our assessments are so low relative to the rest of the state and school aid is based on equalized assessed values. In Cook County, homes (the bulk of the tax base) are assessed at 10% of market value and commercial property is assessed at 25% of market value. Everywhere else in Illinois, property is assessed at 33% of market value. So, the Cook County tax base is assessed much lower than the rest of the state. The Cook County equalizer raises our assessments so that after the equalizer is applied, statisticians can say that Cook County property is, in the aggregate, assessed at 33% of its market value.
If you would like to see a technical explanation of how the equalizer is computed, download the file below:

2015-cook-county-final-multiplier-announced.pdf | |
File Size: | 155 kb |
File Type: |
The Illinois Department of Revenue has released the tentative 2015 Cook County equalizer, and it is scheduled to decrease by about 4.4% from the 2014 level. Property taxes are a product of the assessed value, equalizer, and local tax rate. We expect the Cook County Clerk to release 2015 tax rates in early June prior to the mailing of the 2nd installment tax bills in late June. 2nd installment tax bills are expected to be due on August 1, 2016.
Attached is the official release.
Attached is the official release.

2015-cook-county-tentative-multiplier-announced.pdf | |
File Size: | 53 kb |
File Type: |
Powered by technology, the property tax appeal process has become more transparent, but also more complicated for taxpayers and attorneys.

2016_newsletter-commercial.pdf | |
File Size: | 6690 kb |
File Type: |