Cook County Property Tax Appraisals
One of Peterson Appraisal Group's primary areas of expertise is for property tax appeals in Chicago and Cook County.The Cook County Assessor's Office uses a mass appraisal process to estimate property value for the hundreds of thousands of properties in Cook County. It is a large and complicated process. It is no surprise that the mass appraisal process sometimes results in properties that are over or under assessed. Putting together the data necessary to establish their values takes time and heavily relies upon historical data. In times of rapidly appreciating property values under assessments are more likely to occur. In time of declining property values, as we have now, the possibility of an over assessment becomes more likely. Many Chicago and Cook County property owners have been shocked to see assessments rising when they know their property values have actually declined sharply.
Property taxes have been taking an ever increasing bite out of the property owner's pockets. U.S. Census Bureau data revealed that state and local property tax collections increased 50% from 2000 to 2006 while median household income only increased 15%. While real estate taxes are a fact of life, it is vital for many Cook County property owners to pay no more than their fair share. In some cases this may require an appraisal to help establish what is the equitable fair market value for a specific property.
All of our appraisals conform to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice as established by the Appraisal Standards Board of the Appraisal Foundation, State real estate appraisal regulations and Federal regulatory agency requirements as applicable. Our appraisals are all reviewed by an MAI designated commercial appraiser.
If you have questions about your assessment please contact us. No single family or 2-4 unit apartment buildings please. We focus exclusively on Chicago and Cook County commercial real estate tax appraisals.
