Cook County property taxes have been mired in even more controversy in 2025 than usual. Thanks to a series of computer errors, property tax bills are being released at least a month late, while current valuations and bills are being questioned on validity. While the triennial reassessment churns through the north, other areas around Chicago are feeling the heat as well. This chaos and uncertainty can be confusing and worrying, but it does open the door wide open for property tax protests. Oak Park is in a prime spot. With reassessment only a year away, now is one of the best times to appeal property taxes, setting a baseline for the inevitable hammering to come. While value increases in 2025 have been low, veteran Cook County taxpayers know that next year could bring value rises above 30%, even more in some situations. If Oak Park residents act now, they can... Read More

While many collar counties have a strong relationship with Chicago, Dundee Township is truly joined at the hip with Cook County. As one of the top suburban areas in the region, Dundee Township has been seeing its fortunes rise every year, thanks to population migration and economic growth. Popular for getaways and as an alternative to busy city life, the area is quickly becoming one of the most popular in the entire region. While being intimately connected with Chicago has plenty of advantages, Dundee Township is also starting to see plenty of spillover from the many issues in Cook County. The No. 1 problem is rising property values and taxes. These have been hitting record levels across all of Illinois, but the collar counties in particular have been at the heart of the storm. Property tax appeals have become an ever-popular way to fight rising prices, but the time to... Read More

McHenry County sits at an inflection point between its rural past and a suburban future. As the collar counties around Chicago continue to grow, parts of the quaint past drop away, leaving the area open to development. All across McHenry County, townships have been seeing their value rapidly increase. This is not the result of a focused reassessment, but the result of general growth that is bleeding into the area. Dorr Township fits well into this gray area. Stuck between the urbanizing east and rural west, Dorr Township is a microcosm of the coming changes. Much larger than neighboring Chemung and Richmond Townships, Dorr is currently experiencing some of the highest property value growth in McHenry County. Whether a result of economic growth or simply overzealous assessment, the only way to lower these rapidly increasing values is with property tax protests. O’Connor will discuss how fast Dorr Township’s property values... Read More

2025 seems to be flying by, as we have just entered August. While summer may be coming to an end, the people of Illinois are seeing their focus drawn back to property taxes. While there was no state reassessment this year, township assessors across Illinois still kept up with their work, and tax bills, outside of Cook County anyway, came out on time. Bills went out on May 1, 2025, and the first installment of payments has come and gone. With one round of payments in the books, the second installment will soon be due. Paying on time is important for a litany of reasons, most notably saving on late fees and interest. The people of Illinois pay the second-highest property taxes in the United States already, no need to add to them with fees. Illinois is not a monolith, however, and each county has its own due dates for... Read More

Rogers Park is thankfully outside of Cook County’s infamous triennial reassessment in 2025, but it still bears the scars from being whacked by the Cook County Assessor’s Office (CCAO) in 2024. During that reassessment, Rogers Park saw residential home values surge up 24%, while commercial properties experienced an astronomical growth of 38%. These rises in taxable value translated into record tax bills, causing much financial strain throughout the most diverse township in all of Cook County. Being outside of reassessment does not mean that Rogers Park was safe from increases in 2025, though they were minor. It does illustrate the tidal wave that reassessment can do to a community when the increases are compared together. This does raise an opportunity for the people of Rogers Park to protest their current taxable value, as there is a chance of not only neutralizing the gains of 2025 but also clawing back some... Read More