New Assessor data shows burden shift of 2023 reassessment appeals
Leave a Comment / TAX ADVOCACY / Elk Grove Township Staff
In the 2023 reassessment cycle, properties in the south and west suburbs were reassessed. The updated property values are reflected on the second installment property tax bills that are online and will hit mailboxes in early July. Prior to the reassessment, residential property made up 68% of total assessed value, while non-residential made up 32%. After the CCAO set values and processed appeals in the south and west suburbs, homeowners’ share would have dropped slightly, to 67%. Because share of assessed value can correspond to share of tax burden, a drop in homeowners’ share could mean a drop in the share of tax burden. However, the CCAO is not the final arbiter of assessments in Cook County – the BoR has the ability to change property values during the appeals process. Following appeals with the BoR, the residential share of total assessed value increased to 71%. This was mainly because of appeals granted to non-residential properties: In total, the assessed value of non-residential property decreased $950 million, or just over 18%, during the BoR appeals stage. These changes in the distribution of the property tax burden could affect many of the second installment tax bills issued to homeowners in the coming weeks. Assessed values are used to calculate the tax base for individual taxing districts that, together with the levy, determine the tax rate. (Other factors, such as Tax Increment Financing districts, exemptions, the multiplier, and the “recapture” provision, also affect tax rates.) As a result of BoR appeals, homeowners in many parts of the south and west suburbs will take on a larger share of the tax burden – and a greater increase in their property taxes – than they would have under the CCAO’s values. Variations within townships Appeal changes varied significantly between each of the 17 townships that were part of the 2023 south suburban triennial reassessment. But the same pattern held throughout – in each township, homeowners saw their share of assessed value increase following appeals with the BoR. In Bloom Township, which includes Chicago Heights and Lynwood, residential property made up 65% of assessed value before the reassessment. The CCAO’s assessments increased total assessed values across the township by about $215 million, and decreased homeowners’ share of this value to 64%. In townships where residential property makes up the vast majority of the tax base, changes on appeal were less drastic but followed the same trend as elsewhere. In River Forest Township, for example, homeowners increased from 88% to 90% of the share of assessed value following appeals with the BoR. In individual south and west suburban municipalities, many of the same patterns held. Chicago Heights, Stickney, and Phoenix all saw homeowners take on a share of assessed values that was 9-10 percentage points greater under the Board of Review’s final values than the CCAO’s. It was only in Ford Heights that residential property’s share of value decreased following BoR appeals. About the CCAO Data Dashboards Data Dashboards are created by the Assessor’s Office to allow viewers to review assessments at each stage of the assessment process. In the first stage, the CCAO sets values and processes appeals. In the second and final stage, the Board of Review adjusts those values based on appeals filed in their office. The Dashboards provide a clear view of how the tax burden is split between residential and commercial property owners. They also show the burden shifts at each stage. The CCAO has released Data Dashboards since 2020 for townships and municipalities within Cook County. To explore all the publicly available data, visitwww.cookcountyassessor.com/dashboard.
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Treasurer Maria Pappas analysis shows record-high property tax increases for south suburban homeowners
Leave a Comment / TAX ADVOCACY / Elk Grove Township Staff
The biggest increases in homeowners’ tax bills occurred in 15 south suburbs where taxes soared 30% or more. Of those 15 suburbs, 13 have mostly Black populations. In two towns, Dixmoor and Phoenix, the median tax bill more than doubled. “Many homeowners are going to be shocked and angry when they get their bills,” Pappas said. “South suburban homeowners already pay some of the highest property taxes in the county, and these increases will make paying those bills even more difficult.” A research team created by Pappas released itsTax Year 2023 Bill Analysis, a detailed examination of nearly 1.8 million bills to be mailed to property owners July 2 and due a month later on Aug. 1. This year’s Second Installment bills include a new feature, “Where Your Money Goes,” that breaks down the amounts of money billed by each taxing district and shows whether taxes went up or down. Among key findings of the analysis: Homeowners in the south and southwest suburbs are being hit hard because new assessment shifted 4% of the overall tax burden from businesses onto them. The financial shift was caused by elimination of the 10% COVID-19 assessment reduction enacted in 2020, higher home selling prices and the success businesses had appealing their assessments at the Board of Review, which handles appeals of valuations made by the Assessor’s Office. Particularly hard hit were homeowners in Park Forest, where the median residential bill rose by 56% to $7,152. In Dixmoor, the median bill increased by 122%, to $1,950. And in Phoenix, where nearly all of the village is in a tax increment finance district, the median bill shot up by 107% to $1,744. Nearly 4,200 south and southwest suburban homeowners who paid no taxes last year will get bills this year. That’s because the value of their exemptions no longer exceeds the higher assessed values of their homes. The median for those bills was $1,115. Across the county, more than 1.3 million homeowners must pay more in property taxes, while about 251,600 were billed less. Taxes for more than 88,000 commercial properties increased, while nearly 28,000 went down. State law allows school districts to hike taxes by the prior year’s increase in the Consumer Price Index, or 5%, whichever is less. Because the CPI increased by 6.5% in 2022, school districts were allowed a 5% increase. But the overall percentage increase was higher, partly due to a provision called recapture. Recapture is a 2021 provision in the Illinois tax code that allows school districts and many local governments to recover money refunded to property owners who successfully appealed their taxes the previous year. Recapture led to an additional $136.3 million being tacked onto bills this year. That’s $51.9 million less than was added to property owners’ bills last year. Significant increases in the amount of money the city of Chicago and Chicago Public Schools said they needed to operate, coupled with recapture and higher tax increment financing district bills, boosted the overall property tax burden in Chicago by $221.8 million. That broke down as a $116.6 million increase on commercial properties and a $103.9 million increase on residential properties. The analysis is the latest addition to the Pappas Studies, a series of examinations of the complex property tax system available atcookcountytreasurer.com. Property owners who don’t want to wait for their bills to arrive in the mail can pay their taxes online now atcookcountytreasurer.com. Partial payments are accepted.
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