How to avoid paying more taxes than you should
Cook County property owners will be getting their tax bills any day now, with payments due Dec. 3.
How do they come up with these monstrous bills? Could yours be wrong? What can you do to guarantee you don't pay too much?
Cook County's way of computing taxes has several unique wrinkles, making comprehending an already complicated statewide system well-nigh impossible.
Nonetheless, there are some simple steps you can take to avoid paying more than your share. We talked to Schaumburg Township's Assessor John R. Lawson, Chief Deputy Assessor Ofelia "Rey" Garcia and Deputy Assessor Joe Kolodziej to help you navigate the system.
Q. Could I be paying too much?
A. Yes.
Q. What should I be looking out for?
A. Check your bill to make sure you've received the exemptions you're entitled to. You could miss out on an exemption if you've failed to file the proper form or the information has been incorrectly inputted in the records.
• Homeowner's Expanded Exemption, for an owner-occupied home or a rental where the lease calls for the occupant to pay the property taxes. The exemption is a minimum $5,000 and maximum $20,000 on the equalized assessed value.
• Senior Citizen Exemption, homeowners 65 or older can qualify for an additional exemption of $3,000. You have to be 65 in the year the taxes cover, which for the current bills is 2006.
• Senior Citizen Freeze, freezes the assessed value of the property. Total household income should be $50,000 or less for the income tax year 2005.
If you think you've missed out on an exemption you're entitled to, you can go back three years to file a certificate of error with the county. Your township assessor's office can help you with this.
Q. Are there any other steps I should take?
A. Twice each year, you have 30-day windows when you can challenge your assessment, once with the Cook County Assessor's Office and once with the Cook County Board of Review.
Filing dates for appeals vary by township and are listed on cookcountyassessor.com and cookcounty boardofreview.com.
Those Web sites also include information on how to file and how rulings are made. Grounds for appeal include significant errors in the property description or that the valuation is too high in comparison with similar properties in the area.
You don't need an attorney and it doesn't cost money to appeal. Township assessors can help with the appeal process. At Schaumburg Township, for example, staff will provide information on how similar properties are assessed to help document your case and they will help you with the paperwork.
Even if you lose one appeal, it can pay to keep filing. The Board of Review holds hearings to look at cases, while the Cook County Assessor does not.
Q. How do they come up with my assessment?
A. The assessor does a sales ratio study of home sales over the last three years to determine your assessment.
Properties in Northwest Cook County are being reassessed this year. Residents of several townships already have received notices of their new assessments. Those assessments will be used in computing next year's property tax bills.
Q. How are tax rates determined?
A. Each taxing body sets a levy, which is the amount of revenue they want to raise through property taxes. The levy is applied to the equalized assessed value of the properties in its service area. Levy increases result in tax increases.
Q. What is equalized assessed value?
A. The state sets a multiplier to bring assessments in Cook County more in line with those elsewhere in the state where property is assessed differently. The equalized assessed value is the number after the multiplier (this year it's 2.71) is applied to the assessed value.
Q. What is a typical tax rate?
A. Tax rates in Northwest Cook County range from less than $6 per $100 of assessed value to more than $8 per $100 of assessed value.
Q. What's the biggest factor in my property taxes?
A. The biggest share of property taxes by far -- more than half -- goes to support local schools.
Taxes: