Cook County revalues property on a triennial system. The county is divided into three parts, and for the 2012 year, the Central Business District (CBD) is up for review. The initial notices are scheduled for mailing based on the property's township location. (Find your township on a tax bill).
Mailing dates are as follows:
• Rogers Park — February 24, 2012
• Lake View — April 16, 2012
• Lake — May 15, 2012
• Hyde Park — June 25, 2012
• Jefferson — August 17, 2012
• North Chicago — September 14, 2012
• South Chicago — October 9, 2012
Notices will be sent to the same address where tax bills are sent. You may want to mark your calendar for follow up.
This year the assessment process will be run by the newly elected Assessor Joseph Berrios. The assessor was formerly a member of the first formal appeal level, The Board of Review, before being elected to this office. The new tone in the assessor's communication includes transparency, fairness and speed in the setting process. The new administration intends to improve the revaluation process by bringing its experience into the assessment setting stages.
The number of properties that were in the past "letter properties," those that require an appraisal in advance, will reportedly be reduced in number. This normally included most of the CBD large value assets. Owners may still find it prudent to complete appraisals as part of the Board of Review filing process, but they will no longer be required to send the assessor their initial values in advance.
The assessor's office has given no indication of its expectations of what will happen to values. Reportedly, values of homes were reduced last year in the southern portion of the county by 15-35 percent. Expectations for other non-voter property types were not revealed.
The assessor did indicate that it is his goal to complete the assessment process so that tax bills will be issued in a timely manner. The first installment of taxes is based on 55 percent of the prior year's total tax liability. The second installment is the true up and has been issued late for decades. The goal starting in 2012 is to have the process completed for an early fall mailing.
A new website, set to go live April 1, 2012, will be "a one-stop shop" for records kept by five county offices: treasurer, assessor, clerk, recorder of deeds and board of (tax) review. The address is CookCountyPropertyInfo.com.