2011 Assessment just arrived on our house

[chet everett]

The generic letter you got from the attorney is timed to be sent when you got your assessent. The lawyer is operating under the assumption (that was generally valid in years past...) that your assessment increased. Odds are NOT GOOD that the attorney would even want to take your appeal, as since you've already seen assessed value fall the odds of ANYTHING happening to get assessment even lower is very small.

As an aside, if you just moved into house I wonder if you bothered to check the assessment or tax bills on it or others in the neighborhood. Few people do. It is easy in most DuPage townships and something that gives you a little window into how wide the disparities in tax burden can be...

[chicagojlo]

Originally Posted by Gunner0325

Hi Everyone,

I know this is a gray area of discussion, but we just moved in our house in February and just received our assessment in the mail. It says our home's market value has decreased from 309K to 259K. We are new homeowners so we don't really know what to do with this information? It says we have till mid Sept. to appeal. Should our property taxes go down because of this (haha I know) Should we appeal? Seems like a drastic drop, and just not sure if we are supposed to do anything about it....I went to cookcountyassessor.com but it is very confusing...any thoughts or comments?

The county assessor does not determine the market value of your home for any purpose other than taxes. It has no bearing on anything else. You should be glad they dropped it!

[linicx]

If you paid less than $259K for your home you can appeal to have it lowerd to the current appraised value. You have to live in the house one full years (two Jan 1) before you can appeal. If you think it can ber reduced then you have to present a fresh independent appraisal no more than 6 months old but not before after the second Jan 1. In the meantime all you will get is what the Appraiser gives you plus a homeowner exeption. You need to call the Cook County assessor or YOUR county assessor to learn the ropes. If you don't get it right the first time you will wait an extra year to apply. In the meantime you pay teh full amount of 2010 taxes this year. The reduction for 2011 won't take place until 2012.

[purplesky]

I appealed online while my town was open for appeals. Took 5 minutes and they approved it--will see on Octo 2010 tax bill. I would appeal twice before I would get a lawyer.

[GolfLover2]

Chet is right. Your lender, should you have a mortgage, will react to your tax bill once the change is received. Prior to that, I doubt they will adjust your escrow just to be safe on your behalf. It doesn't hurt to have a conversation with your LO so they are aware that the change is coming. No action is required on your part to benefit from the assessment change. Chet is also right to say that the amount of change you will receive may not be totally known at this point. Local equalization factors may play into the final amount realized.