If you’ve recently received a new tax bill and want to know more about how to control your real estate assessment and tax hikes, check out www.cookcountyassessor.com or call 312.443.7750 to compare your home’s valuation with similar properties in your area.

Exemptions, such as the Homeowners Exemption, Senior Citizen Exemption and Senior Assessment Freeze Exemption, could potentially saving you hundreds of dollars in taxes. There are three grounds for assessment reduction:

1) Assessor’s Error: If you can prove that the assessor made an error in the description of your property, you can win a reduction – but the error must affect your home’s estimated market value.

2) Uniformity Complaint: If your home’s assessment doesn’t align with the assessed valuation of similar homes in your neighborhood, you should find at least three examples of similar homes with lower assessments.

3) Evaluations Approach: Homeowners file an appeal and submit a recent closing statement from their home and/or purchase prices of similar homes to show that the assessed value is greater than 10% of the purchase price.

File an appeal with the Assessors office at 312.443.7750 (www.cookcountyassessor.com) or the Cook County Board of Review at 312.603.5542.

Source: The Home Front, DeBat Media 2010

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