Niles Township Property Tax Appeals Window Opens

NILES TOWNSHIP, IL — Reassessment notices started being mailed to Niles Township taxpayers Thursday, and property owners have until Oct. 30 to file appeals, according to the Cook County Assessor's Office.

Niles Township Assessor Scott Bagnall is hosting an online event this week to help property owners better understand the process of appealing the assessed values of what they own. Bagnall, who has served as township assessor for more than 20 years, will make a presentation over Zoom teleconferencing software starting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday through the Skokie Public Library.

The assessor's determination of the taxable value of residential and commercial properties will be used to calculate the property tax bills that get sent out in July 2021. In Chicago and north suburban Cook County townships, properties this year are only due for reassessment when there is a change due to permitted work or other special applications, according to the assessor's office.

Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin said his office was ready to help those who need assistance navigating the process. His office can be reached by calling 847-864-1209 or emailing mjordan@suffredin.org.

“We will continue to virtually help constituents appeal their property assessments and file for exemptions during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Suffredin said. “I encourage you to reach out to my office so we can assist with your appeal or answer your questions.”

Appeals are also open for Northfield Township through Oct. 21 and North Chicago through Nov. 2. Evanston and New Trier townships wrapped up the process in May.

Last week, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi released an independent report from the International Association of Assessing Officers into 2018 commercial property assessments the office calculated under his predecessor, former Cook County Democratic Party chair Joe Berrios.

It found commercial property owners are not paying taxes on equitable percentages of their market values, some estimates suggesting assessments are as low as 25 percent of market value in some places and 150 percent of it in others.

“I’ve promised to fix the inequities and unfairness of the past,” Kaegi said in a statement announcing the report. “A data-driven look at the previous reassessment can help everyone understand the extent of the problem. Reports like this are the only way to know whether an assessment system is fair or not.”