Hello Niles Township        7/19/2023

There has just been a news release from the office of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. She announced that second installment property tax bills for Tax Year 2022 are expected to be available to property owners by November 1, 2023, with a December 1, 2023 due date.

In other news, the Cook County Board of Review has not yet published results for Niles Township 2022 assessed value appeals. The Board of Review will do so at some point before November 1 because the County Clerk needs those appeal results in order to calculate all of the Cook County tax rates for that November 1 tax bill.

Not to confuse things even more so but at some point in time (not soon) the County will open for filing of 2023 assessed value appeals. We will send an email when it’s time.

We will share with taxpayers via this email list anything else that we learn. As soon as we know something – you will know.

Scott Bagnall
NilesTownshipAssessor.com

3/7/2023
Niles Township
2022 Reassessment Appeals to the Board of Review

Extended Hours – Saturday, March 11, 2023 9:30 – 12:00 Niles Township Assessor Office, 5255 W. Main St Skokie
 
Extended Hours – Wednesday March 15, 2023 8:00am – 7:00pm  Niles Township Assessor Office, 5255 W. Main St Skokie
 
Deadline. We will accept appeal requests through March 29, 2023. Go to NilesTownshipAssessor.com or, taxpayers may come to the Niles Township Assessor Office, our regular hours are 9:00am – 4:00pm, M-F.
 
The Cook County BOARD of REVIEW Filing deadline is APRIL 5, 2023 for taxpayers who intend to file an appeal on their own directly with the Board of Review. The Niles Township office will not be able to accept appeals after March 29 because we need time to process files before the Board of Review closes.
 
It is seriously recommended that anyone wishing to appeal should do so sooner rather than later.
 
Please – NO exemptions or Certificate of Error requests until we announce an exemption starting date.  
 
Condominiums. We do not have comparables information for condominiums so we are not able to assist with the filing of condominium appeals. We advise condo owners to work through their association.
 
(If your 14 digit Property Index Number (PIN) does not begin with 10- then it is not a Niles Township property.)

Hello Niles Township Taxpayers: 2/17/2023 BOR 2022

We are going to begin accepting taxpayer forms that request our assistance with filing Board of Review appeals.

                                                  >>>>>REQUEST CLOSED<<<<<<<<

These request forms are for appeal of the Niles Township 2022 Triennial Reassessment assessed values to the Board of Review [BOR].

The Cook County Assessor Office [CCAO] 2022 Triennial Reassessment appeal decisions should be released by 2/28/2023.

Please keep in mind that the CCAO appeal and the BOR appeal are two totally separate appeals. With release of the 2022 CCAO appeal results we will have concluded all 2022 CCAO assessed value appeals for Niles Township. Filing an appeal to the CCAO is not a prerequisite to filing with the BOR.

So we will now move to the next level of 2022 reassessment appeals – which is the BOR.

The best course for a taxpayer is to go to NilesTownshipAssessor.com and follow the directions and prompts for the Appeal Request Form. Once you have completed the request form, and you have pressed DONE, we will have your form. Please do not contact us to ask whether we have received your form. If you pressed DONE then we have it.

We will find comparable properties and file them at the BOR along with your 2022 appeal. Once you have submitted your form to us you do not need to do anything else for this appeal.

The assessed value appeals, whether those to the CCAO or those to the BOR, are not set up in a way that taxpayers can check status. The status is that all appeals are reviewed and analyzed in good order. Decisions are not available as soon as they are made. Rather, once all of the decisions for all of the Niles Township appeals are complete then those appeal decisions are sent out together on the same day. There is no way to see the decision on a particular appeal until all of the decisions have been completed and sent out together. So – everyone in Niles Township receives their decision at the same time regardless of when the decision was actually made.

The CCAO and the BOR analysts get to the analyzing of appeals as promptly as is possible. But the appeals do take what might seem to some to be a long time. For example, the CCAO closed the 2022 Niles Township appeal window on December 2, 2022 and we expect the decisions by 2/28/23. So almost three months. That does not mean anything bad, it just means that is the way it is in our great big 1,800,000 tax parcel property tax system and we have to be patient.

It will not be necessary for taxpayers to make appointments or to otherwise come in to our office. Because we will apply and focus all of our time and resources to processing and building your appeal files we will not be able to accommodate telephone calls. If you have something urgent that we have not addressed in our emails or forms then you can email your PIN, with dashes, along with a description of your issue to Assessor@NilesTownshipGov.com.

July 2022

 We have a number of property tax issues for this newsletter.

TAX BILLS. We usually see the 2^nd Installment tax bills mailed out on July 1 for an August 1 due date. We are being told not to expect a 2^nd Installment 2021 tax bill mailing before December. The general media, Crains, Tribune, Sun-Times etc have been going into reasons for the delay so we will skip any attempt to explain here. But we do want to emphasize that taxing agencies could be receiving property tax revenue five months later than planned. These agencies could therefore incur costs, for example interest payments, that they did not budget for because they did not know about the delay when preparing their budgets.

Where does the tax bill come from? Taxing bodies file with the County Clerk for the amount of tax revenue they plan to receive, (the levies). The Assessor calculates the total value of all property within a taxing neighborhood, minus the exemptions, (the Equalized Assessed Value, EAV) and sends that information to the Clerk. To calculate the tax rate the Clerk divides the levies by the EAV. The Treasurer makes the tax bill by multiplying your property value by the tax rate, and mails the bill to you.

EXEMPTIONS. We are still taking in and processing exemptions. We will do so until the County gives us an end date. We want to get all of the exemptions filed before the County does the math to calculate the tax rate. The best practice for all of us is to get these exemptions filed when due and to stop relying on certificates of error. For more information on exemptions and the upcoming re-tax law, taxpayers can go to NilesTownshipAssessor.com and review archived email notices and newsletter articles.

2022 REASSESSMENT. It’s coming. We do not know exactly when. But, regardless, it is coming and there is nothing to be concerned about. The reassessment will get here when it gets here and we will deal with it. I predict that the County Assessor will see an increase in values from the prior reassessment. There is no evil motive here. The County Assessor is doing exactly what he is supposed to do. Reassessment is not an attempt to get more money from us (keep in mind that I, and my Deputy Assessor, live in Niles Township and pay property tax here just like you).

In basic terms, the sale prices of properties are used to value similar properties in the neighborhood. It’s mass appraisal. No one sends a certified, licensed appraiser out to each of 1.8 million properties to do a one on one appraisal. But mass appraisal does work.

If every single property in House A’s neighborhood increased by the precise same relative value, and the levy remained the same, then the tax rate would decrease and the tax bill would remain the same.

One way that helps to get a sense of the affect of a reassessment is to see the reassessment as tax burden shifting. After a reassessment, the properties will not be in the same relative position. Not every property in a neighborhood increases in value at the same rate as the others. Those properties that have a relatively higher value can expect a relatively higher tax bill. Those properties that have a relatively lower value can expect a relatively lower tax bill.

Let’s say, for example, that House A value is increased by 20% during reassessment. Does that mean House A’s property tax will increase 20%? No. Not at all. What matters is where House A fits in compared to other neighborhood property values. If all of the other properties increased by 30% then House A has a relative 10% decrease in value. On the other hand, if everyone else increased by 10% then then House A has a relative 10% increase in value.

This is a great big guess here but I would not be surprised to see 30% increases, which, if so, does not at all mean a 30% tax bill increase, or even mean any tax bill increase. When compared to other properties a 30% increase could even mean a lower tax bill.

APPEALS. There is no such thing as appealing the actual tax bill. Once that bill is calculated and sent out it is a done deal. But Niles Township taxpayers can appeal their property value. We are given the opportunity to go to the County and point out why we think a property is overvalued compared to other similar neighborhood properties. In terms of appealing the reassessment value, the first year, which happens to be 2022, will be the most important year to appeal because any reduction in 2022 will apply to 2023 and 2024.

In my office we have always provided great and valuable appeal assistance to Township taxpayers. Over the years, procedures have changed with development of technology. In the past two years we have modified our office protocol to reduce taxpayer risk to Covid. Since I do not have a date yet for the reassessment, and since I do not know what the status of Covid, or the World in general, will be at that point, I am unable to give you reassessment appeal dates and procedures.

But it is going to work out just fine anyway. We have an email notification procedure whereby we email property tax information to registered users. To register go to NilesTownshipAssessor.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS.

September 7, 2022, 7:00 pm, Niles Library. We will be working with the Niles Library to present a property tax information seminar. Go to https://nmdl.libnet.info/events?a=adults for additional information.

October 12, 2022, 6:00 pm. My office is going to renew the Estate Planning Series, which got bounced around on account of Covid. We will begin by presenting the ever popular and often requested Notebook seminar. Location TBD and will be sent out with the reservation confirmation. The Notebook seminar does require a confirmed reservation. Send an email to Assessor@nilestownshipgov.com and put “Notebook” in the subject line. Space is limited and this seminar fills up quickly.

Dates TBD. Appeal Preparation Seminars. In the past we have done as many as were necessary. We will do the same this year. As soon as we have a reassessment mailing date we will send appeal information to the email notification list. No Niles Township taxpayer has ever been left behind. 1.17

Register to receive e-mail notifications at NilesTownshipAssessor.com

We have a number of property tax issues for this newsletter.

TAX BILLS. We usually see the 2^nd Installment tax bills mailed out on July 1 for an August 1 due date. We are being told not to expect a 2^nd Installment 2021 tax bill mailing before December. The general media, Crains, Tribune, Sun-Times etc have been going into reasons for the delay so we will skip any attempt to explain here. But we do want to emphasize that taxing agencies could be receiving property tax revenue five months later than planned. These agencies could therefore incur costs, for example interest payments, that they did not budget for because they did not know about the delay when preparing their budgets.

Where does the tax bill come from? Taxing bodies file with the County Clerk for the amount of tax revenue they plan to receive, (the levies). The Assessor calculates the total value of all property within a taxing neighborhood, minus the exemptions, (the Equalized Assessed Value, EAV) and sends that information to the Clerk. To calculate the tax rate the Clerk divides the levies by the EAV. The Treasurer makes the tax bill by multiplying your property value by the tax rate, and mails the bill to you.

EXEMPTIONS. We are still taking in and processing exemptions. We will do so until the County gives us an end date. We want to get all of the exemptions filed before the County does the math to calculate the tax rate. The best practice for all of us is to get these exemptions filed when due and to stop relying on certificates of error. For more information on exemptions and the upcoming re-tax law, taxpayers can go to NilesTownshipAssessor.com and review archived email notices and newsletter articles.

2022 REASSESSMENT. It’s coming. We do not know exactly when. But, regardless, it is coming and there is nothing to be concerned about. The reassessment will get here when it gets here and we will deal with it. I predict that the County Assessor will see an increase in values from the prior reassessment. There is no evil motive here. The County Assessor is doing exactly what he is supposed to do. Reassessment is not an attempt to get more money from us (keep in mind that I, and my Deputy Assessor, live in Niles Township and pay property tax here just like you).

In basic terms, the sale prices of properties are used to value similar properties in the neighborhood. It’s mass appraisal. No one sends a certified, licensed appraiser out to each of 1.8 million properties to do a one on one appraisal. But mass appraisal does work.

If every single property in House A’s neighborhood increased by the precise same relative value, and the levy remained the same, then the tax rate would decrease and the tax bill would remain the same.

One way that helps to get a sense of the affect of a reassessment is to see the reassessment as tax burden shifting. After a reassessment, the properties will not be in the same relative position. Not every property in a neighborhood increases in value at the same rate as the others. Those properties that have a relatively higher value can expect a relatively higher tax bill. Those properties that have a relatively lower value can expect a relatively lower tax bill.

Let’s say, for example, that House A value is increased by 20% during reassessment. Does that mean House A’s property tax will increase 20%? No. Not at all. What matters is where House A fits in compared to other neighborhood property values. If all of the other properties increased by 30% then House A has a relative 10% decrease in value. On the other hand, if everyone else increased by 10% then then House A has a relative 10% increase in value.

This is a great big guess here but I would not be surprised to see 30% increases, which, if so, does not at all mean a 30% tax bill increase, or even mean any tax bill increase. When compared to other properties a 30% increase could even mean a lower tax bill.

APPEALS. There is no such thing as appealing the actual tax bill. Once that bill is calculated and sent out it is a done deal. But Niles Township taxpayers can appeal their property value. We are given the opportunity to go to the County and point out why we think a property is overvalued compared to other similar neighborhood properties. In terms of appealing the reassessment value, the first year, which happens to be 2022, will be the most important year to appeal because any reduction in 2022 will apply to 2023 and 2024.

In my office we have always provided great and valuable appeal assistance to Township taxpayers. Over the years, procedures have changed with development of technology. In the past two years we have modified our office protocol to reduce taxpayer risk to Covid. Since I do not have a date yet for the reassessment, and since I do not know what the status of Covid, or the World in general, will be at that point, I am unable to give you reassessment appeal dates and procedures.

But it is going to work out just fine anyway. We have an email notification procedure whereby we email property tax information to registered users. To register go to NilesTownshipAssessor.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS.

September 7, 2022, 7:00 pm, Niles Library. We will be working with the Niles Library to present a property tax information seminar. Go to https://nmdl.libnet.info/events?a=adults for additional information.

October 12, 2022, 6:00 pm. My office is going to renew the Estate Planning Series, which got bounced around on account of Covid. We will begin by presenting the ever popular and often requested Notebook seminar. Location TBD and will be sent out with the reservation confirmation. The Notebook seminar does require a confirmed reservation. Send an email to Assessor@nilestownshipgov.com and put “Notebook” in the subject line. Space is limited and this seminar fills up quickly.

Dates TBD. Appeal Preparation Seminars. In the past we have done as many as were necessary. We will do the same this year. As soon as we have a reassessment mailing date we will send appeal information to the email notification list. No Niles Township taxpayer has ever been left behind. 1.17

Register to receive e-mail notifications at NilesTownshipAssessor.com