Lose home value? Don’t expect a lower property tax bill
BY LISA DONOVAN Cook County Reporter ldonovan@suntimes.com September 22, 2011 6:38PM
SUN-TIMES LIBRARY
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Updated: November 30, 2011 12:19AM
Cook County property tax bills are expected to go out the first week of October, and while Chicago and suburban landowners assume their property values have sunk, it may not translate to lower tax bills.
Countywide, property owners will collectively pay a 2.68 percent increase — a rise of more than $300 million — in property taxes this year.
That’s because taxing districts countywide — from parks and cities to libraries and schools — are asking for $11.6 billion to cover the bills, up from last year’s $11.3 billion.
Some $4 billion of that money goes to the major taxing districts in the city of Chicago, up from $3.9 billion the previous year.
The 3.4 percent increase in the city is driven largely by the Chicago Board of Education, which is asking for $2.118 billion, up from $2.001 billion — a $117 million jump from the previous year, according to tax statistics released Thursday by Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office.
The complicated task of figuring tax bills not only includes the assessed value of a home, but also a state-issued equalization factor. The county clerk then sets the tax rate to meet the taxing districts’ financial needs.
Factored in to the tax bill equation is the Consumer Price Index, currently 2.70 percent, which sets property tax limits — a guide for taxing districts that are weighing a hike in the levy.
This year, dropping assessed values on homes, along with the state equalizer falling, drove the tax rates up in most parts of the county to meet the demands of the taxing districts, explained Bill Vaselopulos, tax extension manager in Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office.
He points to a Chicago home valued at $200,000 with a homeowner’s exemption. The annual tax bill would be $2,465, up $272 from last year’s $2,193.
The 12 percent hike can be attributed to a drop in the homeowners’ exemption — something that is happening across the board per state law — as well as the tax rate hike in the city of Chicago: from 4.627 percent to 4.931 percent, according tax statistics.
“Just because your assessed value has dropped does not mean that your tax amount will drop accordingly,” Vaselopulos said.
Every three years, a property owner’s home is reassessed — a schedule that depends on which part of the county you live in, according to the Cook County assessor’s office.
But again, Vaselopulos stressed, the assessed value is only a single factor in calculating the final bill.
Consider the north and northwest suburbs, where properties were most recently reassessed, homeowners may see higher tax bills as the so-called “7 percent cap” or 7 percent alternative homeowners exemption is sunsetting unless the state renews it.
That’s also a factor in the city as well.
“So what you’re seeing is more taxable value is being folded back in to residential properties,” Vaselopulos said.
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