Don’t do this.

Links and text last updated on June 26th, 2020.

The Cook County Treasurer just mailed out second-installment property tax bills for all of Cook County. Many taxpayers have questions ranging from missing exemptions and incorrect information to how appeals affect their tax bills.

Due to COVID-19, our offices have been closed to the public. We have moved all our services online at our website. We are also offering video tutorials on Facebook.

To make it as convenient as possible for you to get the answers you need, we’ve created a list of Frequently Asked Questions and Answers on the Cook County Assessor’s website.

You can find that Q&A here to get an immediate answer to the most common questions.

We also thought it would be helpful to talk about some of the most common inquiries as a way to explain the larger property tax system, which involves our office, the County Clerk, the Treasurer, and the Board of Review, not to mention local municipal taxing bodies.

So here are the nine questions we get asked most often, starting with:

I did not receive my property tax exemption (homeowner, senior, senior freeze, etc.) on my tax bill.

If you did not receive an exemption to which you are entitled, you should file a Certificate of Error form (or “C of E form”) for that exemption online.

If there is enough time, you may receive an adjusted bill from the Treasurer’s office through the mail. More often than not, there isn’t enough time to issue an adjusted bill through the mail before your taxes are due. In this case, you will receive a refund from the Cook County Treasurer’s Office in approximately 60 days. This is also true for instances when your mortgage company paid your tax bill through money in escrow.

Certificate of Error forms for each exemption — homeowners, seniors, persons with disabilities, and veterans — can be applied for online here.

As a reminder, you can claim up to four exemptions to which you are entitled. Falsely claiming an exemption can result in a fine.

I did not receive my tax bill. OR My name and/or mailing address is wrong on my tax bill.

Ironically, one of the questions we get asked most often does not directly involve our office.

The Cook County Treasurer’s Office mails tax bills, collects payments, and updates names and mailing addresses on tax bills. For tax information, to acquire your bill, or to correct the name or address on your bill, you must contact the Cook County Treasurer’s Office at 312–443–5100 or visit their website: cookcountytreasurer.com.

You can also change or update your name or mailing address at the Treasurer’s website here.

As an aside, the Cook County Assessor’s Office does not collect revenue, levy property taxes, or set tax rates. The offices that do all that are the Treasurer, the municipal taxing bodies, and the County Clerk, respectively.

Here’s a diagram about how the Cook County property tax system works:

The Assessor’s Office performs two important steps in the property tax system: to accurately assess the fair market value of properties (which you can read more about here), and to provide exemptions.

OK, back to your questions.

Can I file an appeal now after I received my tax bill?

You can file an appeal with the Assessor’s Office when your township is open for appeals. Here’s the schedule for that. Fewer than 10 Cook County townships are open for appeals during the period when you will receive your tax bill. (And again, any adjustments from these appeals will only be reflected in your 2021 second-installment tax bill so pay the one you just got.)

A few things to keep in mind about appeals, assessments and tax bill schedules:

Tax bills received in 2020 reflect 2019 reassessments of properties in the north suburbs and any reassessments due to permits or divisions in the south suburbs or Chicago.

Last year, if you were in the north suburbs, you would have received a reassessment notice notifying you of any changes in the assessed value of your property the year before any changes are reflected on your second-installment tax bill. That is the best time to appeal your assessment.

Any change in assessment as a result of an appeal filed in 2020 will not be reflected until your second-installment tax bill next year in 2021. So, pay the tax bill you just received from the Treasurer’s office. Don’t wait to get the results of it before you pay your bill.

We are currently re-assessing the southern suburbs now, in 2020, which will be reflected on second-installment tax bills received in 2021. We’re publishing reports on each township we re-assess. You can see those here.

In addition, we are examining all Cook County property values for possible market and economic effects of COVID-19. This is a significant undertaking and we’ve published information about it here.

The City of Chicago will be fully reassessed in 2021 and the 2022 second-installment tax bills will reflect those changes. (All first-installment bills are, by law, 55% of the total taxes you paid the previous year. All exemptions and changes in assessed value are reflected on your second-installment bill.)

If your township is open for appeals with our office, you can file an appeal online here.

But again, pay your…OK, you get it.

I have an appeal that’s in process. Should I pay the bill I just received?

The appeal that you currently have in the system is a 2020 appeal. Any change in assessed value as a result of that appeal will be reflected on your second-installment tax bill next year in 2021. You should definitely pay the bill you have on hand. And again, that money goes to the Treasurer, no matter what the end of The Blues Brothers told you.

My neighbor’s home is identical to mine, but my bill is higher/lower. Why?

When comparing total tax dollars due, it is important to review the exemptions that were applied to a property. Two homes may have similar assessed values but total tax bill amounts may differ due to exemptions applied to the property. Your neighbor may be eligible for exemptions such as the Senior Exemption or Senior Assessment Freeze Exemption and you aren’t. Or perhaps your neighbor hasn’t filed a Homeowner Exemption, but you have.

It is also very important to remember that exemption amounts often differ depending on when a home is purchased.

Another factor to be considered is that your neighbor may have filed an appeal with the Cook County Board of Review and received a decrease in the assessed value of their home from that agency.

How do I get my property location corrected?

To change a property’s location, please download the Property Location Correction Form from our website.

After filling out and mailing that form to the Cook County Assessor’s Office, the property’s location will be corrected.

How do I remove the Homeowner Exemption from my property?

If you have moved to a new residence (inside or outside of Cook County), you are no longer entitled to receive a Homeowner Exemption on your prior home. You can file this form online to have the Homeowner Exemption removed from the property.

I need to verify ownership of a piece of property, if it has foreclosed or if there has been a lien filed against it.

For this issue, you must contact the Cook County Recorder of Deeds at 312–603–5050.

If you don’t see your question addressed above, read our list of tax bill FAQs. If you still don’t see your question answered there you can (in order of convenience):

Send us an email

Send us a message via Facebook

Call us at 312–443–7550

No matter your question, we’re here to help you get the answers you need.