2025 seems to be flying by, as we have just entered August. While summer may be coming to an end, the people of Illinois are seeing their focus drawn back to property taxes. While there was no state reassessment this year, township assessors across Illinois still kept up with their work, and tax bills, outside of Cook County anyway, came out on time. Bills went out on May 1, 2025, and the first installment of payments has come and gone. With one round of payments in the books, the second installment will soon be due. Paying on time is important for a litany of reasons, most notably saving on late fees and interest. The people of Illinois pay the second-highest property taxes in the United States already, no need to add to them with fees. Illinois is not a monolith, however, and each county has its own due dates for... Read More

Rogers Park is thankfully outside of Cook County’s infamous triennial reassessment in 2025, but it still bears the scars from being whacked by the Cook County Assessor’s Office (CCAO) in 2024. During that reassessment, Rogers Park saw residential home values surge up 24%, while commercial properties experienced an astronomical growth of 38%. These rises in taxable value translated into record tax bills, causing much financial strain throughout the most diverse township in all of Cook County. Being outside of reassessment does not mean that Rogers Park was safe from increases in 2025, though they were minor. It does illustrate the tidal wave that reassessment can do to a community when the increases are compared together. This does raise an opportunity for the people of Rogers Park to protest their current taxable value, as there is a chance of not only neutralizing the gains of 2025 but also clawing back some... Read More

Under the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBBA), the state and local tax (SALT) deduction cap increase took effect in tax year 2025 and will hold until 2029. This change will be particularly beneficial for property owners in New York since it is a high-tax state, meaning the deduction cap increase will provide tax relief for property owners. Historical Context Behind SALT Before the recent increase, the original SALT deduction cap was $10,000 per year for joint filers and $5,000 per year for married individuals filing separately. The cap was introduced by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) in December 2017 and was applied to tax years 2018 – 2024. Before 2018, the SALT deduction was uncapped, meaning taxpayers could deduct the full amount of state and local taxes owed. The TCJA’s cap, introduced in 2017, capped it at $10,000 (for joint) and $5,000 (for individuals) to help advocate... Read More

Nestled in Kane County, IL, Plano Township is one of the many hybrid rural-suburban areas outside of Chicago. As part of the collar counties, Plato Township is independent from the big city but is still influenced by being in the orbit of Chicago. While Chicago is famous for its ridiculous property taxes, this is not an issue that Plato has been able to escape. Illinois boasts the second-highest property taxes in the United States and the nexus of these skyrocketing costs is Cook County. As more people flee the property market of Cook County for greener pastures, it is places like Plato Township that are feeling the pinch. While it once took a statewide reassessment to cause property value spikes, it is now a common occurrence that happens every year. Plano Township has seen a flurry of activity in recent years and 2025 looks to bring the highest values ever... Read More

Norwood Park was the very first Cook County township to undergo the triennial property reassessment and ended up being a harbinger of what was to come. Since then, the Cook County Assessor’s Office (CCAO) has been handing out large increases to the people of the northern townships. From Evanston to Elk Grove, townships have been seeing major increases across the board. Norwood Park has been something of a pace-setter throughout the process this year and has been cursed with some of the highest property value spikes in all of Illinois. With no legislative relief coming in the near future, it is up to the people of Norwood Park to take matters into their own hands. The only option currently on the table is to pursue a property tax appeal. Unlike the rest of Illinois, Cook County grants townships a much larger window of opportunity to protest their values, but this... Read More