O'Keefe Lyons & Hynes LLC

Illinois law allows two types of tax sales to sell delinquent property taxes — the required Annual Tax Sale and the Scavenger Sale (only held if ordered by the Cook County Board). Here’s what you need to know if considering these types of sales, according to the Cook County Treasurer’s Office.

Annual Tax Sale

If property taxes for the immediately preceding tax year are delinquent, the full delinquent tax amount due, plus interest and penalties, are offered for sale at the Annual Tax Sale. To participate in this sale, bidders must review the rules and regulations, complete a registration and provide collateral or a bond. The next Annual Tax Sale will take place starting January 9, 2024.

Scavenger Tax Sale

A new Illinois law passed in 2023 has made the Scavenger Sale optional, while it previously was required every two years. Scavenger Sales will only be held at the request of the Cook County Board. At the sale, if a property has three or more delinquent tax years, those taxes are offered for sale to the highest bidder. There is a $250 minimum opening bid or one half of the total tax amount due if that amount is less than $500.00.

The Cook County Treasurer's Office has uploaded information about the second installment of the 2022 Tax Year property tax bills. Property owners who want to see their bills before they arrive in the mail can download and pay the bill at www.cookcountytreasurer.com. There is no cost to pay online (except for a 2.1% credit card processing fee if that method is used). Simply enter the property address or Property Index (PIN) number to access the information. The taxes are due December 1, 2023.

Tax bills can also be paid at any Chase Bank branch location or at more than 100 community bank locations or at the Treasurer’s Office, 118 N. Clark St., Chicago. The Treasurer’s Office sends two tax bill installments each year. The First Installment typically is due in March. In past years the Second Installment has been due in August but bills were delayed this year and last year.

The Cook County Clerk’s Office has released its annual property tax rates for 2022 which includes calculation of property tax rates for more than 1,400 taxing agencies in Cook County.

The total taxes billed continues to increase year-over-year. Last year the total tax billed was $16.7 billion, this year the total tax billed is over $17.6 billion – a 5.36% increase. The boost is due to several factors such as assessed values, taxing district levies, and the state-issued equalization factor.

Also, the Clerk’s Office noted that Second-Installment tax bills will be due December 1, 2023.

Cook County Clerk's Office graphic

One-third of Cook County properties are re-assessed each year by the Cook County Assessor’s office. The North and Northwestern suburbs (suburbs north of North Avenue) were reassessed for tax year 2022, which is reflected in the tax bills currently payable. The last time this region was examined by assessment officials en masse was tax year 2019.

The south and western suburbs (suburbs south of North Avenue) are currently being reassessed for tax year 2023. The City of Chicago was reassessed last year (tax year 2021) and will be reassessed again for tax year 2024.

The Illinois Department of Revenue announced a final 2022 property tax equalization factor of 2.9237 for Cook County. The Department is required by law to calculate the factor, often called the multiplier, to achieve uniform property assessment throughout the state.

The 2022 Final equalization factor increased from the 2022 tentative factor of 2.7230. The department determines the equalization factor for each county by comparing over a three-year period the actual selling price of individual properties to the assessed value placed on those properties by the county assessor. If the median level of assessment for all property in the county varies from the 33 1/3 percent level required by law, an equalization factor is assigned to bring assessments to the legally mandated level.

The equalization factor does not cause individual tax bills to go up. Tax bills are determined by local taxing bodies when they request the dollars needed to provide services to citizens. The assessment process simply determines how the bill will be divided among taxpayers. For more information, click here.

The Cook County Board of Review announced its final township re-Review and Decision Dates for 2022 assessments, covering 38 townships and dates through August. Click here for a detailed list of townships and dates.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi announced that the deadline to apply for property tax exemptions is Friday, August 4, 2023.

Exemptions are property tax savings that help lower a homeowner’s property tax bill. The most common is the Homeowner Exemption, which saves a property owner an average of $950 dollars each year. The savings from exemptions are reflected on a homeowner’s second installment property tax bill.

New homeowners, first-time applicants, or those that need to reapply can now do so online. All the information is at http://www.cookcountyassessor.com/exemptions.

The Cook County Assessor’s office released the initial assessments of residential and commercial properties in Riverside Township and should be mailing reassessment notices within a week.

A Reassessment Notice reflects the estimated fair market value based on sales of similar properties over the past three years. Also, the notice contains important information such as the property’s characteristics, neighborhood code, and past assessments. It is important to note that an increase in a property’s assessment does not cause the same increase in the property owner’s taxes.

After a township undergoes reassessment, a valuation report is released that provides details on residential, commercial, and multi-family reassessments. The Valuation Reports for Riverside Township can be found at cookcountyassessor.com/valuation-reports.

The due date for property taxes this year is April 3. Nearly 1.8 million tax bills are scheduled to arrive in mailboxes by early March. They can also be viewed online at http://www.cookcountytreasurer.com. The site has options for paying online for free as well as searching by property address or entering the Property Index Number.

Typically, First Installment property tax bills are due on March 1. But state lawmakers extended the due date because Second Installment bills were late last year.

Partial payments are accepted. Late payments are charged 1.5 percent per month, as mandated under Illinois law.

The 2022 Assessment Calendar and Appeal Deadlines for the North, South, West suburbs and the City of Chicago have been published. The list includes the Board of Review appeal dates, with some listed in February through the beginning of April.

Click here for more.

The Cook County Clerk’s Office has released the calculations for the 2021 property tax rates for more than 1,400 taxing agencies in the county, along with its annual tax rate report.

Among the changes for average single-family dwellings are: City of Chicago, north, 8.86% increase; City of Chicago, central, 4.10% increase, City of Chicago, south, 5.63% increase, north and northwest suburbs, 0.90% increase and south and west suburbs, 1.08% increase.

Once again, the total property tax billed for Cook County taxing districts continues to steadily increase. The total tax billed is over $16.7 billion, up from $16.1 billion last year. This represents a nearly 4% increase and is due to several factors such as assessed values, taxing district levies, and the state-issued equalization factor.

The City of Chicago was reassessed for tax year 2021 and is reflected in the tax bills currently due. The north and northwestern suburbs are currently being reassessed for tax year 2022 while the south and western suburbs were reassessed last year and will be reassessed again for tax year 2023.

Graphic courtesy of Cook County Clerk’s Office

Cook County’s Second Installment property tax bills have been posted at http://www.cookcountytreasurer.com and are due December 30, 2022. The Treasurer’s offices noted that it had recently receive the information needed to print the tax bills. Paper bills should reach taxpayers around the first of December.

Taxpayers can download their tax bill and make a payment on the website by following these steps:

• Select the blue box labeled "Pay Online for Free"
• Enter your address or Property Index Number (PIN)

There is no fee to pay online from a bank account. Bills can also be paid at any Chase Bank location, including those outside Cook County, as well as at more than 100 community banks or at the Treasurer’s Office.

The deadline is approaching for the Cook County Annual Tax Sale. Properties with unpaid 2020 property taxes (that were due in 2021) will be offered for sale November 15 - 18, 2022.

Over $226 million is due on 55,857 homes, businesses and land. Less than $1,000 is owed on 14,189 properties in Chicago and 7,162 properties in suburban Cook County. The Cook County Treasurer is mailing certified notices informing property owners that their unpaid taxes are to be sold, which would put a lien against their properties. It is the first step in a process that can end with the loss of a home, business or land. In addition to the mailings, the Treasurer’s Office will publish delinquency property tax lists in area newspapers.

Click here for more.

A final 2021 property tax equalization factor of 3.0027 for Cook County was announced today by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The 2021 Final equalization factor increased from the 2021 tentative factor of 2.7297.

The Department is required by law to calculate the factor, often called the multiplier, to achieve uniform property assessment throughout the state.

The department determines the equalization factor for each county by comparing over a three-year period the actual selling price of individual properties to the assessed value placed on those properties by the county assessor. If the median level of assessment for all property in the county varies from the 33 1/3 percent level required by law, an equalization factor is assigned to bring assessments to the legally mandated level.

For more information, click here.

The Cook County Board of Review announced its final township re-Review and Decision Dates for 2021 assessments, covering 38 townships and dates through October.

Click here for a detailed list that covers townships such as Lyons, Niles, Proviso, Rich, Stickney, Worth, Jefferson, Lake, as well as Chicago north and south, which all have final dates in October.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi announced that the deadline to apply for property tax exemptions is Friday, August 26, 2022. The Assessor sent notices in April to households notifying taxpayer that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Illinois legislature has allowed for the automatic renewal of many exemptions. For most property owners, there is no need to reapply.

Exemptions are property tax savings that help lower a homeowner’s property tax bill. The most common is the Homeowner Exemption, which saves a property owner an average of $950 dollars each year. The savings from exemptions are reflected on a homeowner’s second installment property tax bill.

For more, click here.

The Cook County Assessor’s Office released the initial assessment of residential and commercial properties in Norwood Park Township. Reassessment notices should be in the mail within a week. Residential assessments are based on recent sale prices of similar properties. The 2021 median sale price for single family homes in this township was $363,000. For condos, the median sale price was $197,000 while small apartment buildings recorded a $535,000 sale price.

Due to the increases in value and/or number of properties in Norwood Park, the total assessed value of the township increased by 32%. This township is the first of 13 in Cook County’s North Suburbs to be reassessed this year for tax year 2022.

Click here for more.

The 2021 Assessment Calendar and Appeal Deadlines for Rogers Park, West Chicago, Jefferson, North, South, Lake, Lake View and Hyde Park have been published. The list includes the Board of Review appeal dates and other information, with some deadline listed as February through the May.

Click here for more details.

The Cook County Treasurer’s Office announced the due date for property taxes this year as March 1. The first installment is 55% of the previous year’s total tax. Exemptions that can reduce the taxes are applied to the second installment.

Property tax information can be viewed online at http://www.cookcountytreasurer.com. The site has options for paying online for free as well as searching by property address or entering the Property Index Number.

Partial payments are accepted. Late payments are charged 1.5 percent per month, as mandated under Illinois law. Click here for details.

The Cook County Treasurer’s office has mailed out nearly 1.8 million Second Installment property tax bills. Payments are due Oct. 1.

The new bills will bring the total amount billed countywide for 2020 to more than $16.1 billion. This is an increase of more than 3.4 percent from last year.

To make a payment online, go to the website:

• Select the blue box labeled "Pay Online for Free"
• Search by property address or enter your Property Index Number (PIN)
• There is no fee if you pay from your bank account

Taxpayers also may use the website to search for $72 million in available refunds going back 20 years and to verify property tax exemptions, which can lower the tax bill.

Click here for more details.

The Cook County Clerk’s Office has released the 2020 property tax rates, calculated for more than 1,400 taxing agencies. The total tax billed continues to increase on an annual basis, increasing from $15.6 billion last year to over $16.1 billion, according to the Clerk’s Office. This is a 3.5% increase and is due to factors such as assessed valuations, taxing district levies and the state-issued equalization factor.

A COVID-19 adjustment was applied to the entire county this year to reduce the tax burden as a result of the pandemic and its economic effect on taxpayers.

The second installment bills are due October 1, 2021.

For more details, see the Cook County Clerk’s website here.

A final 2020 property tax equalization factor of 3.2234 for Cook County was announced today by the Illinois Department of Revenue. The 2020 Final equalization factor increased from the 2020 tentative factor of 3.0861.

The Department is required by law to calculate the factor, often called the multiplier, to achieve uniform property assessment throughout the state.

The department determines the equalization factor for each county by comparing over a three-year period the actual selling price of individual properties to the assessed value placed on those properties by the county assessor. If the median level of assessment for all property in the county varies from the 33 1/3 percent level required by law, an equalization factor is assigned to bring assessments to the legally mandated level.

For more information, click here.

The Cook County Assessor’s Office released initial assessments of residential and commercial properties in the township of Rogers Park. This is the first of eight townships in the City of Chicago to be reassessed in 2021 and the first Chicago township to be reassessed under Assessor Fritz Kaegi, who took office after Chicago’s last reassessment in 2018.

According to this Assessor’s Office release, increases in assessments reflect a robust market. Assessments, under Illinois law, should reflect overall market values. 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.

In 2020, median sale prices of home in Rogers Park were about $380,000 for a single family home and $150,000 for condos. The Assessor’s projections show single family homes with a 2021 market value between $320,000 and $410,000 and condos with market values between $130,000 and $170,000.

Hotels and retail properties are among the commercial sectors with the largest declines since the onset of the pandemic, while multifamily apartments, grocery stores, industrial buildings and data centers have been stable or experiencing positive growth since the pandemic.

All residential and commercial reports can be accessed at http://cookcountyassessor.com/rogers-park-2021.

The Cook County Board of Review announced its final township re-Review and Decision Dates for 2020 assessments, covering 38 townships and dates through June.

Click here for a detailed list that covers townships such as Bloom, Hanover, Niles, Northfield, Rich, Lake, North and South, which all have final dates in June.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cook County Assessor has extended the property tax exemption application deadline for tax year 2020 to Friday, April 9, 2021. For most property owners there is no need to reapply. The following exemptions will automatically renew for homeowners who received them last year (tax year 2019) and remain eligible this year (tax year 2020).

• Homeowner Exemption
• Senior Exemption
• Senior Freeze Exemption
• Persons with Disabilities Exemption
• Veterans with Disabilities Exemption

Click here for more details and to see a list of resources for taxpayers

The Cook County Treasurer’s Office announced the due date for property taxes this year as May 3, due to a change in the law that provides taxpayers two extra months, given the pandemic, to pay this installment.

The first installment is 55% of the previous year’s total tax. Exemptions that can reduce the taxes are applied to the second installment.

Property tax information can be viewed online at http://www.cookcountytreasurer.com. The site has options for paying online for free as well as searching by property address or entering the Property Index Number.

Partial payments are accepted. Late payments are charged 1.5 percent per month, as mandated under Illinois law. Click here for details.

The 2020 Assessment Calendar and Appeal Deadlines for the South and West Suburbs, which are being reassessed as part of the triennial schedule, is now available.

The list includes the Board of Review appeal dates and other information, with some deadline listed through December.

The listing also includes a separate section for the City of Chicago and the North Suburbs. Click here for more details.

In Evanston, commercial properties experienced an average tax increase of 33%. Since Evanston’s relatively diverse stock of property approximates that of Chicago, its actual experience anticipates what to expect in the 2021 Triennial Reassessment of Chicago.

The second installment 2019 tax bills are now available on the Treasurer’s website. https://www.cookcountytreasurer.com/setsearchparameters.aspx You may enter PINs and download the actual tax bills. Despite August 3, 2020 due date, payments made on or before October 1, 2020, will be considered timely by the Cook County Collector.

Cook County Board of Commissioners vote to defer the penalty date to October 1, 2020. The second installment 2019 tax bills will state that the due date is August 3, 2020. But payments will be treated as timely if made on or before October 1, 2020.

The 2019 (pay 2020) Cook County Equalizer/Multiplier is 2.9106. That is up slightly from the 2018 (pay 2019) value of 2.9109.
While the equalizer alone provides no indication of the likely taxes, it does provide some indication of the accuracy of assessments and the degree of assessment reductions granted by the Board of Review.

Assessor Kaegi recognizes that the current health and economic crises will impact real estate value. However, it was readily apparent that the actual ability of the Assessor and his staff to discover and accurately measure this impact within the strict timeframe of the assessment cycle is extremely limited or, even, nonexistent.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit approves a rare exercise of federal court jurisdiction over a constitutional challenge to Cook County property tax assessments brought by O’Keefe Lyons & Hynes on behalf of several commercial and industrial taxpayers. A.F. Moore & Assoc., Inc. v. Pappas, 948 F.3d 889 (7th Cir. 2020)

To understand Assessor Kaegi’s proposal it is helpful to understand how triennial reassessment operates ordinarily.

On April 3, 2020, Cook County Assessor announced that he intends to send 2020 assessment notices (affecting taxes payable in 2021) to all properties in Cook County reflecting the impact of Coronavirus on market value.

In the coming months, OLH will be gathering evidence of the impact of the coronavirus on the market value of commercial real estate. We will use this evidence, where appropriate, in 2020 Assessed Valuation Complaints.

The Cook County Assessor’s Office has mailed reassessment notices to approximately 3,000 single family, 1,000 condominium and 300 commercial and multifamily property owners in River Forest Township. See the details here.

Residential assessments are based on recent sale prices of similar properties. The 2019 median sale price for single family homes in this township was $675,000. The median estimated Fair Market Value (FMV) for a single family home in River Forest in 2020 is $668,510 compared with $552,080 in 2019. The median change in estimated FMV was 19%.

The assessment found that fair market values of commercial properties has risen in River Forest since 2017. Market rents used in the 2020 reassessment were generally higher than rents used in the 2017 reassessment. According to the Assessor’s Office, the most powerful driver of increased values is a lower capitalization rate, driven by a low interest rate environment and increasing rental rates.

The deadline to file an appeal for the River Forest Township is March 19, 2020.