Dear readers,

Initial reassessments of residential and commercial properties in the township of West Chicago have been released by my office. This is the second of eight townships in the City of Chicago to be reassessed this year and the second Chicago township to be reassessed under my administration.

We’ve seen similar, surprisingly robust real estate trends in West Chicago that are also taking place in other areas of the city. In some areas, home values are rising significantly, though others have plateaued. Despite the pandemic, rents have increased since 2018, driving some commercial property values higher while others still see ongoing economic effects from the pandemic.

A complete report on the residential and commercial assessments in West Township can be found at cookcountyassessor.com/chicago-2021. My commitment to you is full transparency on how we arrive at the assessment of your property.

The first step to ensuring property owners pay only their fair share of property taxes—without needing to file appeals to correct inaccurate assessments—is to make sure assessments of all property types accurately reflect the real estate market.

The fairness and equity of West Township assessments improved over 2018 for single-family, condominium, and small multi-family properties. This represents a significant leap forward for fairness within the western parts of Chicago.

Moreover, single-family homes in the bottom third of property values saw the most improvement on these assessment quality measures.

You should know that an increase in a property's assessment does not lead to the same increase in an individual property’s tax bill. A property’s share of taxes depends on reassessments throughout all of Chicago, which are ongoing for Chicago’s remaining six townships.

If the growth in assessed values throughout Chicago outpaces the growth of the assessed value of an individual property then its share of property taxes could shrink despite its increase in property value.

Property assessments in Chicago are used to apportion taxing district levies which pay for services such as schools, parks, libraries, and pensions. The Assessor’s Office does not set levies or tax rates. Also, increases in assessments do not necessarily increase the revenue received by taxing districts.

If the property characteristics listed on an assessment notice are incorrect, or if the estimated market value of a property is significantly more than what it could sell for in the current real estate market, property owners should file an appeal.

Property owners are encouraged to use our office’s new, award-winning online system to file their appeals. Appeals for West Township can be filed until August 23, 2021. More information on filing appeals can be found at cookcountyassessor.com/appeals.

2021 assessments and appeals will affect the second installment property tax bill issued in late 2022.

The mission of the Cook County Assessor's Office is to deliver accurate and transparent assessments of all residential and commercial properties. We serve every community in the County through ethical stewardship within the property tax system. I hope you experience our efforts to operate with ethics, fairness, and transparency in every interaction you have with our office.

Sincerely,

Fritz Kaegi

Cook County Assessor