Chicago is being reassessed this year. Assessment increases for commercial taxpayers have gone through the roof. The Assessor started four months late but he wants to finish on time – in December. That means he will decide a record number of tax appeals in about half of the normal amount of time!

Also, the assessing officials are becoming tougher. They now require more and better documentation to even consider lowering your assessment. The bar for successful appeals has been raised.

But there is good news: You can get good relief in this environment. But we need your help to do so. Here’s what you can do to make it easier for us to get the best results for you.

• Get us documents in 7 days. We only have 30 days to file an appeal with all evidence, including appraisals. By the time we write you to request documents, a week has already passed. Many of our clients send us their evidence within days of the appeal deadline. That doesn’t give us enough time to do a good job. Please give us all documents within 7 days so we can do the best job for you.
• Give us all the documents we ask for. During the appeal process, the assessing officials ask for certain documents. If you don’t provide all of them, they may deny your appeal because of a lack of complete evidence. They have a huge caseload. They’re very busy and get quite frustrated if they aren’t given all documents that their rules require. When they’re faced with inadequate evidence, the easiest thing to do is deny your appeal. Don’t let that happen. 
• Be legible and complete. We often receive documents that have been xeroxed to the point of being unreadable, have illegible handwriting or are incomplete. If the assessing officials can’t make sense of a document, it’s as if you submitted nothing. You probably won’t win your appeal.
• Make sure the documents are correct. The assessing officials are scrutinizing documents and comparing them to what you’ve submitted in prior years. They’re looking for inconsistencies. When documents appear to be misleading or incorrect, they aren’t considered and your appeal will probably be denied. Make sure the documents you provide are truthful, correct and complete – especially rent rolls, vacancy affidavits and profit-and-loss statements.
• Approve appraisals in 3 days. If we ask you for authorization to order an appraisal, it’s because we think one is necessary. We believe it’ll result in tax savings that are significantly more than the cost of the appraisal. We need to order them quickly to obtain them during the Assessor’s strict 30-day filing window. So, please authorize appraisal requests within 3 days.

The bottom line: Get your documents to us fast
The odds of you winning your tax appeal and reducing your property taxes are much higher if you provide us with correct, complete and legible documents within 7 days. And, the reverse is true, of course.

Please help us to help you by giving us all the documents we request within 7 days.

Our staff thanks you!!

Joanne Elliott is moderating a panel discussion on Real Estate Tax Incentives in #CookCounty. Too often, the opportunity to secure an #incentive is missed due to lack of knowledge. Don’t miss your (or your client’s) opportunity to secure 60% tax savings, click here.

Panelists include: Brian Liston, Melissa Whitley, Lauren Elliott, Cook County Assessor’s Office – Tatia Gibbons, Ira Horwitz and Dominick Spalla, Cook County Bureau of Economic Development – Sheryl Stewart-Caldwell, South Holland – John Watson, Jr., Village of Schaumburg – Matt Frank, and Brown Commercial Group – Trinity Scurto.

We hope you can join us!

Elliott Associate Request for Reissuance of Fund Check  Form

Question:
Do I need an appraisal?
​
Answer: 
Appraisals can be useful in winning a tax appeal case.  But, they are not always necessary. 
 
Let us explain what we do to avoid incurring unnecessary appraisal costs and when buying an appraisal might be in your best interests.            
 
There are several legal arguments for winning a tax appeal case. These include correcting inaccurate assessment records, proving lack of uniformity of assessment, providing arguments about market value, and requesting equitable relief, such as vacancy.           
 
√ Appeals involving inaccurate assessment records and uniformity of assessment claims do not speak to the market value of your property.  So, appraisals are not necessary in these cases.            
 
√ Appeals that seek relief for vacancy likewise are not concerned with the market value of your property, and, appraisals are not needed in these cases either.             
 
√ But, in situations where the market value of your property is at issue, an appraisal could help prove what the true value of your property is. 
 
In some cases, we are able to prove market value by submitting documents showing what you paid for your property recently, evidence of comparable sales or an analysis of the income your property generates (if applicable).  In these cases, we can often obtain substantial reductions without incurring appraisal costs.      
 
But, if the case is complicated, the tax dollar dispute is large, or there is no good evidence of value we can put our hands-on, it may be advisable – and cost-effective – for you to obtain an appraisal.       
 
We always obtain a preliminary value estimate from a licensed appraiser.  We then prepare a cost-benefit analysis showing what the appraisal will cost and how much we believe you can save net of all costs.               
 
When we present a cost-benefit analysis to you, the answer will be pretty clear.           

Question: 
Outside of Cook County, how long does the appeal process take?
​
Answer: 
There are several places where a taxpayer outside of Cook County can appeal its taxes.  Each has its own rules and timing.  Here is a summary of the process and how long it can take.            
 
Each year, your local Assessor will adjust the assessment of all properties in your township and will send each owner a notice of re-assessment.
 
Assessment notices are mailed sometime between July and November of each year.  Then, your County Board of Review will open your township for 30-days allowing taxpayers to file appeals.           
 
The Board will conduct hearings, consider the evidence submitted to them and decide all appeals.  They typically render their decisions in February of each year.            
 
Taxpayers then have one final appeal opportunity.  They can file an appeal to either the Property Tax Appeal Board or the Circuit Court of the County.           
 
Appeals to PTAB must be filed within 30-days of the Board’s final decisions for the township.              
 
Appeals to the Court must be filed within 75-days after the second installment tax bill is due.
 
Appeals to PTAB can take 1 to 3 years to resolve.  Some cases are settled, and, as a result, are resolved fairly quickly — in 12 to 18 months.  Others proceed to trial and take more time.      
 
Court cases can take a year or two to resolve.  Highly contested cases could take longer.        

Question: 
In Cook County, how does the assessment process work?

Answer: 
In Illinois, real estate is taxed on is its market value.  The higher the market value, the higher the tax.  And, the lower the market value, the lower the tax.
 
The process begins with the Assessor valuing property for tax purposes.  That value is called the assessment. 
 
Taxpayers have the right to contest their assessment by filing a tax appeal.  If a taxpayer wins his appeal, the tax bill he receives in the future will be smaller then the bill he would have received had no appeal been filed. If the tax bill was already paid, the taxpayer will receive a tax refund.
 
In Cook County, property is reassessed at least once every third year.  This is called triennial re-assessment.  Chicago is assessed one year, the north suburbs the following year, and the south suburbs the next year.  The process then repeats itself.
 
In most cases, an assessment reduction will remain for all three years of the assessment period.  But, if the property experienced an unusual event, like high vacancy or abnormally low rental income, a reduction will be awarded for one year only.
 
In a re-assessment year, the Assessor will mail a notice to the taxpayer indicating what he proposes the new assessment to be.  The taxpayer will then have thirty days to contest that assessment by filing an appeal with the Assessor.
 
In a non-reassessment year, the taxpayer will only receive an assessment notice if the Assessor proposes to increase the assessment.  However, the taxpayer may contest their assessment every year, even if the Assessor does not increase it.
 
The Assessor usually renders decisions on appeals filed to him within about 60 to 90 days after the appeal has been filed.
 
After the Assessor renders his decision, the taxpayer will have a second opportunity to appeal, this time to the Board of Review of Cook County.  The Board generally takes about 90 to 120 days to conduct hearings and render decisions on appeals filed to the Board.
 
After the Board of Review renders its decision, the taxpayer will have a final opportunity to file an appeal to either (1) the Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB), or (2) the Circuit Court of Cook County.  Successful appeals to the Assessor or Board of Review will cause the next 2nd installment tax bill (before exemptions) to be smaller than it would have been had no appeal been filed. 
 
Appeals to the PTAB or Court are always resolved after the tax bill is issued.  As a result, if you win those appeals, you will receive a tax refund.

Question:
In Cook County, how long does the tax appeal process take?

Answer: 
There are several places where a Cook County taxpayer can appeal its taxes to.  Each has its own rules and timing.  Here is a summary of the process and how long it can take.     
 
There are 38 townships in Cook County.  The Assessor opens each for 30-days each year allowing taxpayers to file appeals.  The first townships open in late January and the last by early October.  The Assessor typically opens 4 to 5 townships each month.  
 
The Assessor decides all appeals in a township about 6 to 8 weeks after the filing deadline.    
 
Then, the Board will open the township for 30-days allowing taxpayers a second opportunity to file appeals.  The Board does not usually open until August 1st of each year, so the first filing deadlines occur around that time.  Then, later in the appeal season, the Board tends to open a township for filing about 30-days after the Assessor renders his decision.    
 
The Board usually takes 2 to 3 months to complete hearings and render decisions for all appeals in a township.               
 
Taxpayers then have one final appeal opportunity.  They can file an appeal to either the Property Tax Appeal Board or the Circuit Court of Cook County.       
 
Appeals to PTAB must be filed within 30-days of the Board of Review’s final decisions for the township.         
 
Appeals to Court must be filed within 5-1/2 months after the second installment tax bill is due.           
 
Appeals to PTAB often take 1 to 3 years to resolve.  Some cases, however,  get settled and, as a result, are resolved fairly quickly —  in 12 to 18 months.  Others proceed to trial and take more time to resolve.
 
Court cases are usually resolved 18 to 24 months after they’ve been filed.  Highly contested cases could take longer

Question: 
How do condominium association appeals work?

​Answer: 
The Condominium Property Act allows condo boards to appeal tax assessments “on behalf of all unit owners”.               
 
This requires a two-thirds vote of the board or a majority of the unit owners.  Most associations obtain authority from their boards.
 
The Act provides as follows:

Tax appeals can only be filed by a licensed attorney and not by the association, its officers or property managers.  The act of filing a tax appeal by a non-lawyer on behalf of a condominium association and/or its unit owners is considered the practice of law.
               
The attorney will file one appeal on behalf of all unit owners in the development.  These appeals are called collective appeals.         
 
The assessing officials prefer collective appeals for a few reasons:       

• Collective appeals are less work for the assessing officials.      
• The assessing officials generally prefer to negotiate with one knowledgeable attorney rather than numerous property owners or their attorneys.
• Collective appeals result in uniform assessment results.            

Legal fees and costs incurred in connection with collective appeals may be charged to the unit owners as “common expenses”.    
 
Some associations choose to pay appeal costs from the association’s budget.  
 
Others choose to bill the unit owner for their pro-rata share of these costs.    

Question:
Should our association pay tax appeal legal fees from our budget or bill the unit owners back?

Answer:
This is a business decision for your board.  We will tell you what the law says and give you some of the pros and cons of billing back or not.        
 
The Act provides that tax appeal costs are common expenses.  This means the Association is entitled to pay these costs from their budget as they would any other association expense.   
 
The Condominium Act provides as follow:

​Many associations, however, choose to bill their unit owners for their share of tax appeal costs.

These are some of the reasons why Association might choose to bill back or not.  We hope this helps you to make an informed decision.