Assessor’s Office Hosts Events to Help South and West Side Homeowners Receive Property Tax Savings



Assessor’s Office Hosts Events to Help South and West Side Homeowners Receive Property Tax Savings 




Chicago – The Cook County Assessor’s Office will host three events next week for South and West Side homeowners to check for possible property tax savings.

The events will focus on those neighborhoods in Chicago where residents have seen the largest increases in their property tax bills.

Staff from the Assessor’s Office will be on hand to assist taxpayers with missing exemptions that can help them receive property tax savings.

  • Monday, December 8, 2025 
    6:30 p.m. – 8 p.m.
    New Mount Pilgrim Baptist Church
    4301 W. Washington Blvd., Chicago, IL 60624
  • Wednesday, December 10, 2025
    5:30 p.m. – 7 p.m.
    NAACP Chicago Westside Branch
    Garfield Park Conservatory
    300 N. Central Park Ave., Chicago, IL 60624
  • Thursday, December 11
    Alderman Stephanie D. Coleman, 16th Ward & 
    Alderman David Moore, 17th Ward 
    11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
    Kennedy-King College
    6301 S. Halsted St., Chicago, IL 60621 

The Assessor’s Office is on track to participate in a record number of outreach events this year. To view all the upcoming in-person and virtual workshops visit, www.cookcountyassessoril.gov/event-list.

BACKGROUND

Circuit Breaker Legislation Would Cap Unsustainable Tax Increases

In addition to ensuring homeowners have exemptions and access to appeals, “circuit breaker” legislation would limit how much a homeowner's property tax bill can increase from year to year, protecting families from the kind of devastating spikes hitting the South and West Sides. An analysis by the Assessor's Office found that nearly 250,000 households across Cook County have seen unsustainable tax bill increases in recent years. Assessor Kaegi’s proposed legislation (SB1978 / HB 3808) is modeled on successful programs in other states that prevent property taxes from forcing longtime residents out of their homes when market values rise or when tax burden shifts from commercial to residential properties.

Board of Review Commissioners Shift Burden to Homeowners through Commercial Appeals

The record property tax increases are driven by rising home values and massive appeals granted by Cook County Board of Review commissioners to downtown commercial properties. When the Board of Review commissioners reduce assessments for commercial properties during the appeals process, they shift the tax burden shift directly onto residential properties. Downtown property owners are able to routinely hire tax appeal attorneys, while working-class homeowners cannot.

A Cook County study found that commercial properties are underassessed after Board of Review appeals. Another study from the Cook County Treasurer's Office found that these commercial appeal reductions shifted nearly $2 billion in property taxes onto homeowners.

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