When to Do It:
- Every year, Cook County re-assesses the value of all properties in roughly 1/3 of all county “townships.” For an individual property, this means that the property receives a new “assessed value” once every three years (the “triennial”). All properties in the City of Chicago are re-assessed in the same year (2018, 2021, 2024, etc.), but when their 30-day appeal window falls depends on their township. Ideally, Associations should have 3-year contracts by January 1 of the reassessment year. Even if the association misses the initial 30-day appeal window, it is still worth signing a contract for later appeal windows.
- Sample communication.
Planning
- Bring to the board’s attention at least 3-4 months before the reassessment year. Find out if the board has a preference for appeals lawyers. You can get proposals from 2-3 of the vendors listed at the bottom of this page.
- Ensure the board has a proposal that can be approved at a scheduled Board meeting before the reassessment year so that the approval is done in an open session and is not open to a challenge by an individual unit owner later.
- Once the board has approved the contract, send out an announcement to Association members letting them know so they do not file their appeals later.
- If individual owners have questions about the senior freeze exemption, the manager should consult the property tax appeal attorney directly (attorneys will not discuss with the owners directly). If a resident has successfully filed a senior freeze exemption, they have already “frozen” their property tax rates. So a successful appeal may not reduce their property taxes any further. Most property tax attorneys will agree to waive the appeal fee for an individual unit that has successfully filed a senior freeze if the successful appeal will not save any money for that particular unit.
Following a Successful Appeal:
- CAM’s should notify your board and homeowners that the appeal was successful. (See template gallery)
- Confirm that the invoice for the tax appeal has been submitted to Strongroom.
**MANAGERS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR RELEASING INVOICES IN STRONGROOM**
- The accounting rep is responsible for entering the bill back charges into the unit ledgers. CM should forward the appeal letter to their dedicated accounting rep.
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- Confirm with accounting the posting date for the charges. Charges should be added at least thirty (30) days ahead of due date to allow owners time to pay.
3. Prepare a notice of successful appeal to the owners using the template gallery.
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- Ensure you have the payment due dates for charges added to their ledger included in the notice.
Vendors: KSN, Elliott & Associates, Amari & Locallo, Sarnoff & Baccash, Arnstein & Lehr.
Following an Unsuccessful Appeal:
1. Prepare a notice of unsuccessful appeal to the owners.
