Property tax substantially increases after previous owner's senior exemption expires. (Chicago: condo, how much)

[ChiCityChiCity]

I bought a house a year ago. Last year property tax with previous owner's senior exemption was $2500 for the whole year. I received the second installment for this year which has gone up substantially. Cook county wants $4200 for the second installment this year, which means my current property tax is at $8400/year, a significant increase from $2500/year. I called the county and was told I could apply for the home owner exemption and "purchase from a senior" exemption to bring the tax down but by not much. Is this some mistake or property tax without senior exemption is just this high? What is that "purchase from a senior" exemption? I have never heard of it.

[rparz]

You should have known, or your agent should have alerted you to the fact they were senior level taxes. It's normal practice to not only compare prices to similar neighboring properties but also the taxes. (I was informed mine were high relative to neighbors) Yours sound like they were 25% of what your neighbors are. That should have been a big red flag.

There's no quick fix or secret form to get your taxes where they were. You might get a couple hundred off the 8,400 if you appeal, but other than that, you're stuck. Only option is pay the taxes or sell the house. Sorry. The city has high taxes.

[ChiCityChiCity]

Thanks for the reply. I can afford the increase in taxes, however, the significant increase really caught me by surprise. I did look at all the equivalent houses around before making the purchase and their taxes with just home owner exemption were around 6k max so I was wondering if this is a mistake. The property assessed value is about the same price I paid for the house. Is there any other exemption I can apply for?

[rparz]

Homeowners exemption is about it. Also, I'm constantly getting letters from lawyers offering to lower my taxes by appeal, (splitting half the savings) but no luck as I appealed myself when the Alderman put on a seminar when the appeals window was open.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by ChiCityChiCity

I bought a house a year ago. Last year property tax with previous owner's senior exemption was $2500 for the whole year. I received the second installment for this year which has gone up substantially. Cook county wants $4200 for the second installment this year, which means my current property tax is at $8400/year, a significant increase from $2500/year. I called the county and was told I could apply for the home owner exemption and "purchase from a senior" exemption to bring the tax down but by not much. Is this some mistake or property tax without senior exemption is just this high? What is that "purchase from a senior" exemption? I have never heard of it.

How much was the 1st installment? If it was something like $1,250 (you said $2,500 from the year before) and now your 2nd installment is $4,200 does that make your yearly total $5,450? Just making sure I understand, as the 2nd installment might just be huge to make up for the 1st installment being low - as opposed to it actually being $4,200 + $4,200.

Based on my current taxes in the city your house should have a value of around $600,000 if you're paying $8,400. The highest I've paid in the city is around 1.5% of home value. Mine is normally more around 1%.

[knitgirl]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

How much was the 1st installment? If it was something like $1,250 (you said $2,500 from the year before) and now your 2nd installment is $4,200 does that make your yearly total $5,450? Just making sure I understand, as the 2nd installment might just be huge to make up for the 1st installment being low - as opposed to it actually being $4,200 + $4,200.

Based on my current taxes in the city your house should have a value of around $600,000 if you're paying $8,400. The highest I've paid in the city is around 1.5% of home value. Mine is normally more around 1%.

THIS! Cook is the only county in the area that charges different amounts on the 2 tax installment bills. In your case, it looks they were making up the difference between the senior exemption and no exemption. The last few years Cook has charged 55% of the total bill for the previous year on the 1st installment. The 2nd could be higher OR lower.

[Chicago60614]

Originally Posted by knitgirl

THIS! Cook is the only county in the area that charges different amounts on the 2 tax installment bills. In your case, it looks they were making up the difference between the senior exemption and no exemption. The last few years Cook has charged 55% of the total bill for the previous year on the 1st installment. The 2nd could be higher OR lower.

I was excited to find my property taxes here in Chicago went down by over 25% from last year to this year. My 2nd half installment on my condo was only a few hundred dollars!