Illinois
How Illinois assessments are built, where they go wrong, and what an owner can actually do about it. 105 articles, written to be useful to somebody who then does it themselves.
Cook County: why advice written for Illinois usually does not apply
Different ratios, a different cycle, an extra appeal stage and a very large multiplier.
Illinois · 2 min
Cook County's triennial reassessment and the three triads
Your township is reassessed every third year. Knowing which year is yours changes when to act.
Illinois · 2 min
Cook County's class codes, and what they do to your assessment
The class sets the assessment level. It also sets who you are allowed to compare yourself to.
Illinois · 2 min
The two-stage Cook County appeal: Assessor first, Board of Review second
Two separate filings, two separate windows, and losing the first does not end anything.
Illinois · 2 min
The collar counties: DuPage, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry
Standard Illinois rules, high tax rates, and quadrennial cycles that differ by township.
Illinois · 2 min
Appealing downstate: smaller offices, same law, less data
The rules are identical. What changes is how much is published online.
Illinois · 2 min
Farmland is not assessed on what it would sell for
Illinois assesses farmland on agricultural economic value from soil productivity, not sale price.
Illinois · 2 min
TIF districts: why your rate can rise while values grow
Tax increment financing freezes the base for other taxing bodies and captures the growth.
Illinois · 2 min
Special service areas: the extra line on your bill
A defined area taxed additionally for services only it receives. Check whether yours still exists.
Illinois · 2 min
Your school district decides most of your bill
Schools commonly take the majority of an Illinois property tax bill, which is why identical houses differ.
Illinois · 2 min
Using Illinois FOIA to get the assessment roll
Assessment records are public. Ask for the electronic file, and cite the subsection that requires it.
Illinois · 2 min
Townships, and why yours matters more than you think
The township is the unit of assessment, the unit of the reassessment cycle, and the unit of your deadline.
Illinois · 2 min
The Illinois property tax calendar, and why you pay a year late
Assessed one year, billed the next. Everything about timing follows from that.
Illinois · 3 min
Tax caps (PTELL): what they limit, and what they do not
PTELL limits how fast a taxing body's total levy can grow. It does not cap your individual bill.
Illinois · 3 min
How new construction gets assessed, and the partial first year
A house completed mid-year is assessed for the part of the year it existed.
Illinois · 2 min