By Jill Odzer – Lake County Appeal, Commercial Analyst

 

The Chief County Assessment Office is responsible for assessing your property. The assessment should be the fair market value (what the county believes you could have sold your property for on January 1, 2022) multiplied by .3333 (for all Illinois counties besides Cook). 2022 is the fourth year in the assessment cycle for Lake, DuPage, McHenry, Kane, and the other Illinois counties besides Cook. Barring significant changes to your property, such as major renovations, the assessor will make township-level adjustments only with an equalization factor. That is, every property within a given township will be changed by the same percentage, up or down.

For example, in West Deerfield Township, where I live, the tentative increase in the value of ALL properties for 2022 is 4.68%, according to the Chief County Assessment office. Is this equalization factor correct? The short answer is, “It depends.” Customers should hire LCA to do the evaluation! Lake County Appeal recommends an annual assessment review. When compared to the potential tax savings, our small up-front fee is certainly cost-justified. Annual assessment reviews should be viewed as a necessity, just like an annual medical exam or furnace servicing.

Life is busy, and we don’t want you to miss your opportunity…You have only 30 days to file an appeal once your assessment notice is published. You are reading this now, why not hire Lake County Appeal while you’re thinking about it?

Keep your eyes peeled for our upcoming newsletters to make sure that you do not miss the deadline to hire Lake County Appeal and to learn other ways to potentially decrease your property tax liability.