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J. Chie, Esquire

Our law firm provides legal work for real estate closings for over 30 years… What distinguishes Chicago Commercial Appraisal Group from other appraisers is the level of thoroughness and details.

A. Raila, Senior Tax Analyst

Gary is a hands-on professional always willing to pick up the phone and work with you... His appraisal firm produces one of the best real estate forecasting reports in the state. I highly recommend his work and his opinion is highly recognized by governmental agencies.

J. Norris, Property Tax Attorney

As an attorney, we deal with many appraisal reports used in tax appraisals. Gary's work has proven successful for our clients and I do not hesitate recommending him for tax assessment appeal appraisals.

C. Noone, property owner

I needed an appraisal for settling an estate. Mr. Peterson was very professional, punctual and helpful with the process. I received my report ina timely manner. I would certainly recommend this company, as well as use their services in the future.

J. Tsiaousis

Gary is one of the top commercial appraisers in Chicago. Every time I have a client in need of a commercial appraiser I refer all work to him without hesitation.


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High Property Taxes Hurt Property Values

Most property owners feel the pinch of high property taxes and understand how difficult it can be to keep writing checks to cover these costs. In addition to the annual costs, however, is the very real impact taxes have in suppressing property values. As your taxes go up, the value of your building goes down.

We did a small study in 2015 measuring the impact of property tax rates on sales of industrial buildings from 10,000 to 50,000 square feet that were built between 1950 and 1985 in South Cook County. We excluded outliers, REO's and properties with unusually high land-to-building ratios. South Cook County has a dramatically varying tax rates that make direct comparison much easier.



As is clearly evident in the chart, as the property tax rates go up, the value of the properties go way down. Mathematically the effects are as follows:

25% Assessment Level with a                                                  10% Assessment Level with a
1% Increase in the Property Tax Rate                                    1% Increase in the Property Tax Rate
Property Tax Rate Range           Value Reduction                        Property Tax Rate Range            Value Reduction
7-10%                                                  -5%                                          7%-11%                                   -3%
11-17%                                                 -4%                                          12-35%                                     -2%
18-28%                                                 -3%
29-35%                                                 -2%

In addition to losing value, you can also see the number of sales drop in higher tax communities. That is because buyers want to pay less taxes so they buy in low tax areas. New development is also more likely in low tax areas for the same reason. New development in low tax areas help keep property taxes down creating a virtuous cycle. The opposite occurs in high tax areas where investment leaves and values drop, resulting in even higher property tax rates.