As 2025 comes to a close, it’s helpful to look back at how the year unfolded. From coast to coast, property owners saw massive changes in how taxes were assessed, levied, and collected. Some saw large cuts thanks to exemptions being expanded, freezes strengthened, or legislative changes. Others saw their burdens reach heights never seen before, with crushing taxes growing rapidly. While not a riveting subject, property taxes certainly capture the minds of those involved. We value feedback from our clients, as it lets us understand how you view the property tax world. This helps us understand what you wish to know and what motivates you to explore property tax appeals. We have begun sending out monthly surveys with our newsletter, and have received some strong insights into what you are thinking. In this article, we will review what you taught us this year and how people are dealing with... Read More

The Board of Review (BOR) announced that it will reopen previously closed townships for appeals. While these appeals will not change what is owed on the record-setting second installment for 2025, they do have the potential to reduce what will be owed on the first installment for 2026, which has been delayed until April 2026. After weeks of speculation about how this reopening would unfold, the BOR has announced that the first batch of townships will open for appeals starting on December 3 Taxpayers in these townships will have until December 12 to file their appeals. Evidence for a filed appeal will be due by December 22, 2025. Townships Reopening from December 3 to December 12 A Compressed Window Typically, Cook County townships are processed slowly through the BOR appeal process, with small batches having 30 days to file an appeal. This is not the case for the reopening, and... Read More

The property tax situation in Cook County has spiraled out of control this year. Starting with a computer issue that delayed tax bills for months, the entire process appeared to break down. To make matters worse, when the bills finally arrived, it was revealed that homeowners across the Chicago area were seeing the largest tax increase in the county’s history, with a general spike of 16%. In some neighborhoods, increases jumped to over 100% for a few select neighborhoods, mostly those with working families and minorities. This seems to have galvanized the people of Cook County into an uproar. With it becoming abundantly clear that many taxpayers simply can’t afford to pay these new taxes, let alone the first installment of taxes in 2026, the Cook County Board of Review (BOR) has taken the unprecedented step of reopening property tax appeals. While the dates for these new appeals are still... Read More

2025 has been a tumultuous year for the taxpayers of Cook County. Thanks to a massive computer issue, the entire system was thrown into chaos. Starting with the Cook County Assessor’s Office (CCAO), the issues quickly expanded to all portions of Cook County government, as each relies on property taxes to function. This all came together to delay both tax bills and refund payments to taxpayers, sabotaging the whole system. This caused the second installment of tax bills to be months late, only finally releasing on November 14, with due dates set for December. Not only were these bills late, but they saw some of the largest tax hikes in Cook County history, which certainly says something. While the typical spikes were felt in certain neighborhoods, homeowners around the county almost universally experienced significant increases. With all of these issues in mind, the Board of Review (BOR) in Cook County... Read More

Big developers could soon get decades-long property tax breaks while your tax bill keeps rising. Illinois’ new “megaproject” law, House Bill 4058 (HB 4058), promises jobs and investment, but could also reshape who pays the biggest share of local taxes. The house bill is drawing significant attention due to its large potential tax breaks for developers and big projects such as stadiums or corporate campuses. While some of Illinois’ biggest developments may benefit from a major tax advantage, homeowners and small businesses may face steady tax bills in the upcoming year due to shifting the local tax burden. What is House Bill 4058? HB 4058 is pending before the House Rules Committee and was proposed by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). The bill would provide major tax breaks or exemptions for megaprojects (large-scale investments meeting certain job-creation and investment thresholds) by reducing the qualifying threshold from... Read More