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You can appeal your own property assessment.

Filing an assessment appeal with your county costs nothing, needs no attorney for a house or condo, and for most homeowners takes an evening. Here is how it works in the six Chicagoland counties.

  • No filing fee
  • No attorney needed for residential
  • Roughly a 30-day window

Which county is your property in?

Start by checking the number, not the bill

An appeal challenges what the assessor says your property is worth. Work backwards from your assessed value to the market value the county is implying, then ask yourself one question: could you sell for that today?

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Four things you can actually argue

Boards of review decide assessments, not tax bills. "My taxes went up" is not an argument they can act on. These four are.

  • Your assessment is out of line with similar homes

    Illinois law says your property cannot be assessed at a higher share of its value than comparable property in the same district. This is the most common residential argument, and counties supply a comparison grid for it.

    Bring: three to five nearby homes of similar age, style and square footage, with their assessed values and the county's own property record for each.

  • You bought it recently for less than the county says it's worth

    An ordinary arm's-length purchase is usually the strongest evidence of value there is. If you closed recently and the implied value on your notice is higher than what you paid, say so plainly.

    Bring: your settlement statement, the sales contract, the recorded transfer declaration (PTAX-203) and the MLS listing history.

  • The county's description of your property is wrong

    Square footage, lot size, bathroom count, basement finish, garage, year built. These get entered once and repeat for years. A factual error is the fastest kind of appeal to win, and some counties ask you to raise it with the township assessor first.

    Bring: your property record card from the county, plus whatever contradicts it — a survey, floor plan, appraisal or dated photographs.

  • Condition problems the mass appraisal never saw

    Assessors value thousands of properties at once from the outside. They don't know about the foundation, the roof, the fire damage or the kitchen that was never finished.

    Bring: date-stamped interior and exterior photos and written contractor estimates for the repairs.

How the filing goes

The same shape in every county, with the details differing above.

  1. Read your assessment notice

    It arrives before your tax bill and carries your PIN, your assessed value and — in most counties — your actual filing deadline printed on it. Don't wait for the bill. By then the window is closed.

  2. Call your township assessor first

    Every county recommends this and a few require it for factual-error cases. If the record is simply wrong and the books are still open, the assessor can often fix it without a formal appeal.

  3. Pull your property record card

    Check every line against reality. Then search the county's property database for your comparables and print their records too. Your case is only as good as the documents behind it.

  4. Fill in the complaint and the comparison grid

    Pick one clear basis for the appeal, state the assessed value you're asking for, and attach the evidence that supports that specific number. A short, tidy filing beats a thick one.

  5. File before the deadline, and keep the confirmation

    Late filings are refused without exception in every Chicagoland county. Most counties now require online filing. Save the confirmation email.

  6. Choose how you want it heard

    Most counties let you waive a live hearing and have the board decide on your written evidence. For a straightforward residential case that is usually the sensible choice.

  7. Wait for the written decision

    Decisions typically arrive months later, often the following late winter or spring. If it goes against you, the clock for the next step starts on the date of that notice.

Check your exemptions while you're in there

Exemptions are handled separately from appeals and are often worth more. They come off your taxable value every year, and a missed one is money you were never going to get back automatically.

  • Homeowner exemption — for the home you live in. Most counties renew it automatically, but it drops off after a sale or a change in title.
  • Senior citizen homestead exemption — for owner-occupants aged 65 and over.
  • Senior freeze — freezes the assessed value for lower-income seniors. Income-tested and it must be reapplied for.
  • Home improvement exemption — shelters a portion of the added value from a renovation for several years.
  • Veterans with disabilities, returning veterans, and persons with disabilities — several separate exemptions, some of them substantial.

Exemptions are applied for through your county assessor or supervisor of assessments, not through the board of review, and appeal boards have no authority over them.

What an appeal will not do

Being straight with you about this is more useful than a sales pitch.

  • It won't lower your bill dollar for dollar. Your bill is your assessment multiplied by rates that local taxing districts set from their own budgets. A lower assessment shifts your share of that levy; it doesn't shrink the levy.
  • A board can raise your assessment as well as lower it. Boards of review are empowered to raise, lower or sustain a value as appears just. In practice increases are uncommon on residential appeals, but the possibility is real and you should know about it.
  • A modest gap is usually not worth the fight. If the county's implied value is within a few percent of what you'd actually sell for, the evidence is unlikely to move a board.
  • Missing the window costs you the whole year. There are no extensions, and in a reassessment year a bad value can follow you for three.
  • An appeal can't touch your tax rate or your bill directly. The Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board says as much about its own jurisdiction: assessments only.

Stuck on something?

Most people get through this on their own. If your case is unusual — a commercial or mixed-use property, a condo association filing together, a value that jumped for no visible reason — or if you'd rather talk through how property taxes fit the rest of your picture, we're happy to hear from you.

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Please read this part

  • This is general information, not advice. Nothing on this page is legal, tax, financial or appraisal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client or any other professional relationship. Your situation may turn on facts this page doesn't cover. For advice about your specific property, consult a licensed Illinois attorney, a certified appraiser or a qualified tax professional.
  • Deadlines change every year and vary by township. None of the six counties here has a single countywide date. Windows open as each township's assessment roll is published and close roughly thirty days later. Always confirm your own deadline against your assessment notice and your county's official website before you rely on anything here.
  • We are not a government office. This site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any county assessor, supervisor of assessments, board of review, the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, or the State of Illinois. Links to official county pages are provided for convenience and we don't control what's on them.
  • Filing with your county is free. No county in this list charges a fee to file a residential assessment complaint. You never have to pay anyone — including us — to exercise this right.
  • No outcome is promised. Nobody can guarantee a reduction. Boards of review may raise, lower or sustain an assessment. Past results in other cases don't predict yours.
  • The estimator is a rough guide only. It applies the statutory assessment level to the figure you type in. It does not account for state equalization factors, local township multipliers, exemptions already in place, or anything particular about your property, and its output is not an appraisal or an opinion of value.
  • Accuracy. We work to keep this current, but county procedures, portals and statutes change. We make no warranty that this page is complete or up to date, and we're not liable for decisions made in reliance on it.
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