The 2021 Triennial Reassessment of Chicago property ... So, what'd it do?

April 20, 2022 3

Here's a look at all the Cook County Assessor's Office's proposed 2021 Triennial Reassessment valuation increases for city of Chicago property:

This tally represents not final but the proposed valuations, before the appeal process.

The 2021 reassessment marked Assessor Fritz Kaegi's first crack at assessing Chicago properties for tax purposes. The results do reflect an emphasis on his stated 2019 campaign goal of shifting the total tax burden back towards commercial property. 

The split between residential and commercial property, roughly 50-50 in the 90s, became closer to a 65-35 in the three decades following, with residential shouldering the heavier burden. Kaegi, with his background in business valuation and markets, claimed commercial property to be broadly undervalued. 

He made correcting the issue a core plank of his winning platform. 

However, with residential assessments on the rise too, alongside local tax rates, and the state Equalization Factor seeing a near-unprecedented lift on the County's 2020 property tax bills, it seems quite clear this burden-shifting is not going to save any tax paid by residential owners in Cook County, in an absolute sense. It will only cost businesses more. 

The residential appeal process, therefore, remains crucial as ever.