Cook county taxes...did you get your bill yet? d#@%&!!! How do you guys survive?!

I hate Cook County. Honestly, I think I hate Illinois... The taxes are frikken absurd...

I own a dinky 4 unit building in Cicero Illinois. Assessed at $235,000 according to the city. $150,000 according to the bank...

2 years ago the tax bill was $15,000. The city argued that the property was worth $450k. Not a chance. Took a year to straighten that out.

Next years bill was $7000. Horrible, but better.

This years was $9300. No reassessment. Just skyrocketing mill rates.

Thats 5% of the value of the building!!!!!!!!!! Annually!!!!!!!!

The water/trash/sewer bill is $500...every 2 months (This is the "minimum" charge for a 4 unit). They are talking about it going up 100% over the next 5 years.


How the hell do you folks living in cook county survive?!

Thats crazy!!!!

Someone please tell me how you manage...

 

We have commercial property in Cook County. A real estate tax attorney is how we manage property taxes. While we pay a percentage of the savings, and also pay for appraisals, overall we have saved money. My suggestion is hire a good attorney.

 

Gerry, are your taxes comparable...or is Cicero just nuts?

I fought the assesment last year, it dropped by 50%. But they just jacked up the mill rate.

Can you fight the assessment every year? Or just during reassessment every 3 years?



My neighbor owns some small commercial property in Cook. A daycare, 2000sf building. Worth perhaps $400k at the market peak. Her taxes are $28,000...

Taxes on commercial are apparantly double the residential, when it comes to mill rate.

I guess the question I have for folks...Did your cook county taxes go up again this year (dramatically) even though you weren't reassesed????

 

This is the exact reason why I chose to invest down in Will Co. instead of Cook Co.

 

Will, Cook, Dupage, (insert county name) it does not make a difference. They are all crazy and want nothing but to raise your taxes, irrespective of the market or facts. All you can do is fight the assessment.

Happy to share the name of our RE tax guy. Send me a PM if you would like to discuss further.

 

What your house or property is worth today vs 5 years ago is for the most part totally irrelevant. The village or city budget..... Is what it is..... Your taxes will go up or down accordingly. Since taxes never go down because the city refuses to fire enouph city and municiple emplyees or cut their favorite entitlement goodies or other wastefull programs ....Property taxes will continue to go up. Taxpayers who go broke and can no longer afford to pay these taxes are leaving the city. Which just places more of the burden on those who stay. Many taxpayers who are now in there retirement years can no longer afford to remain in the homes they lived in most of their adult lives and are voting with their feet.Those of us who remain wil definitly feel more pain.

 

Oddly, seniors can often "lock in" lower taxes. The tax burden is just displaced to newer owners, and younger folks, it seems.

I just don't get it. The assessment is supposed to be based on comps, recent sales, and appraisals. Thats it...

Yet I can provide 2 recent appraisals, which are summarily ignored.

I can provide comps...to identical buildings (there are 20 built by the same contractor - they are identical)... its irrelevant.


The guy down the street, who has owned the building for 40 years, is assessed at 30% of the value of his building.

I have yet to see a law that states, "The longer you live in a building, the lower your assessment."

Yet, thats clearly done. Everywhere.

I can't pay 10k on a 200,000$ building, when grandpa joe is paying $2000 on the same building....

Its not sustainable.

 

BINGO.

Don't be the last rat on the sinking ship.

I left almost 5 years ago. Absolutely LOVED the house I lived in. Maybe I was lucky that a broken relationship forced me out of it. Still miss the house & location, but wouldn't consider paying the property taxes on such a place when I can live where I am now & pay $400 to $500 per year for a similar home on much more land.

 

It's why we are pulling out of Illinois altogether. My company has been manufacturing here since 1952, I've owned it since 1986, and I made the decision last year to uproot and move the whole damn thing. North Carolina has made us a great offer and so we go, before next spring. It will take that long to move it all.

I've had it with Illinois politicians thinking they have us over a barrel because we wouldn't possibly incur the cost, the logistical headache, and the potential loss of sales revenue by moving. Wrong. What we loose through the move we will profit in a no time through much lower taxes. We can manufacture anywhere, we choose not to be fleeced by Illinois any longer.

Rant over, carry on.

 

Good for you, what a shame. This state really treats its citizens and businesses like garbage.

 

A few thoughts based on my experience...... in Crook County single family residential is a different ball game than commericial or multi-family.

In single family you can appeal based on the "lack of uniformity" i.e. is your assessed value to high, as compared to your neighbors? Also, in single family the seniors can get a freeze and so on.

In commercial one of the most significant inputs is what you paid for the property. I owned a commercial building in the city that I leased to the business for $3K per month, building was worth $500K at peak. The property taxes were about $30K per year, thankfully the lease was NNN. This building was single story and only about 3,000 sf. Next door was a dentist office, also about 3,000 sf. and he had 2 rental apartments above. His taxes $6K vs. my $30K and I had no apartment rents, he bought his building the late 70's, I bought in the early 2000's.

With regard to protesting, I agree that a good attorney can help (beware, many put forth very little effort and just look at it as a volume game). However, you can do it yourself. Keep in mind you have 2 levels of protest - 1) You can protest your assessed valuation with the Assessor and 2) you can protest with the Cook County Board of Review. I have found the later to be effective. I asked for a hearing, got a postcard in the mail, met a hearing officer for a 5 minute hearing and 6 weeks later I got a later indicating a 20% reduction. Did it all myself.

 

its time for everybody to start sueing this damed state,and they just raised taxes 66%

 

They will increase tax as high as they want. Most people will go on and pay the bill. Some will fight and pay after they get deny. Few will ever get their reduce by fighting. State WINS.

I live in DuPage and thankfully my taxes hasn't gone up much.

 

Sell the damn thing, taking your lumps if need be and invest where you won't be milked for every last dime to support corruption, waste and trying to keep crime at bay.
I'm born and raised here with deep roots but am contemplating getting the f out of Dodge. I'm sick to death of my $ being wasted by politicians that most aren't smart enough to vote out, over and over and over again. Blindly pull that lever marked "D" and this is what you get folks.
Kudos to the poster above that is moving his business.

 

This is why I have been looking at Denver, I pay almost $6000 a year on a 1500sq foot condo on the lakefront. In Denver I would pay under $2000 and all my living expenses would be lower as well. My HOA is $410 and on a like property there it would be $95. This state is bankrupt and will continue to pass it along to us while they try to get out of the hole they put us into.

 

These politicians have been feeding from the trough for so long its become a disease. The labor unions give them unconditional support in exchange for sweetheart pensions that nobody can afford to pay.Now that Cook County is broke the Governor and Michael Madigan have reached out to the suburbs to help pay Chicago teacher pensions.They just keep finding other suckers to pay. The merryground never stops until the state has drained the pockets of every village,munucipality and resident who lives in Illinois. . Then guess what......When that money is gone.....Chicago files for bankruptcy and gets the federal government and every citizen who pays federal taxes in the country to kick in a few dollars. Nothing but a corrupt ponzi scheme that only fails when there is noboby left to refill the trough.

 

Side note, you don't have a Carrera GT do ya?

 

I, too, am sick of paying close to $10K in property taxes for my 2 bedroom, which happens to sit on a tiny piece of land. Reading this thread, it's refreshing to see that right wing views still exist; true right wing, that is. Let's take all these dems (and RINOS) from local office to federal by the scruff of the neck and toss them (literally) overboard. 5% of the people are not responsible for all the deadbeats and leeches. Free ride is over!

 

genius... utter and complete genius, the left is the ONLY problem with the city/county/country and the reason for all its woes...

QFT, pay your bill of GTFO

 

The above post is proof positive that you can't argue with a leftist/ignoramus.

Fiscal irresponsibility, welfare state, etc. are not mantras of true conservatism. If you had any kind of open mind and were willing to absorb some common sense that much would be plainly obvious. Read my earlier post again. And some advice : you should also do the same to others' posts (who happen to make sense) before spouting off with nothing concrete to back the idealistic stupidity/worthlessness of the left.

 

I agree! The destructive practices of liberalism, is what weakens the structure of any great society. Illinois, was probably once a strong and productive state, then, the termites took over and consumed its entire foundation. As it collapses, they'll seek its blood until it no longer exist.

"Qft, pay your bill or GTFO" - we have and we will, in droves. Detroit comes to mind.

 

Get over yourself your post was simply met with a like tenor, you don't know what I am so ignoramus is on you...

I do have an open mind, what I'm not open on is the idea that one can blame ALL the problems on the other as if they had zero role in any of it, absorb that common sense.

I'm not any more happy than anyone else around here but at the end of the day you have a choice one way or another plain and simple.

People b!tch about Chicago and the mayor yet only 40% or so participated in the actual process of electing him. You(the proverbial "you" so you don't get confused, but then again maybe you didn't as if you take 60% of the poster's here and extrapolate they didn't vote you could be one of those) don't get to complain if you don't participate. And BTW - I didn't vote for our current mayor. If we all voted post away...

Property taxes are not meant to ensure one having a profitable investment. They are there to pay for the city services people expect. Common sense realizes that property values have no relationship to what city services cost. They are simply an abstract to assign a fair portion to the property owner to pay into the system for what needs to be provided for a particular property. If you feel your portion unfair there are avenues to address that albeit with no guarantee of outcome.

The original poster with a 4 flat complains about taxes being too high yet seemingly fails to see the reason 4 families in those units are just as entitled to having all the city services I do as a property owner(school, library, safety, etc). Renters don't have any tax burden as they don't own anything in the city. The money to pay for the services they are entitled to as a resident has to come from somewhere doesn't it or do they just get a free ride because they are a renter? that's what's unsustainable...

Vote to put people that will fix that system if you want to make it "fair" or as fair as can be.

If the building owner can't afford to make on their investment while assuring those taxes are paid at a fair rate that's not what government is there for. At the end of the day the cities/counties/state's bills need paid for what it provides regardless of who is in office and regardless of property values.

The idea to blame one side or the other is the one that's shortsighted, they are all corrupt as governing isn't about what's best for the city/state/country, it's about what can public office do for "me" and my immediate friends. Add to that checks and balances are nothing but hollow words on a piece of paper anymore.

I would expect most to vote around here but there's no way to know...

Change these numbers here

http://elections.gmu.edu/Turnout_2010G.html

Get rid of the extreme ends of the parties, add campaign finance reform to elections, think about term limits, outlaw special interests/lobbyists and get religion out of government and maybe there is a chance to get past some of this mess. Use reason instead of fear to keep the borders safe, offer help abroad when absolutely needed, stop bringing democracy to those that don't want it, mind our own damn business and take care of ourselves as a good example as opposed to failing on most fronts as of right now.

Hell, get rid of the two parties, they are a joke each. The absolutism of the party lines anymore is more than indicative of how broke things are. The divisiveness between them is what got us to where things are and with your drivel about the "true right", scruf off the neck" BS rallying cry noise and such only continues the problems as opposed to solving them.

And the upcoming election, mitt laughably couldn't get consensus with his own party, BO was elected at least 4 if not 8 years too soon as the 1st black president which I think he's the guy for the job just to soon, rahm is simply more of the same self centeredness as the daley era was. Liberal, that must be it... I'd call myself seeking rational and responsible governing with none in sight anywhere.

That's where the non subtle reaction to your ridiculous post lies.

 

QUOTE: If the building owner can't afford to make on their investment while assuring those taxes are paid at a fair rate that's not what government is there for. At the end of the day the cities/counties/state's bills need paid for what it provides regardless of who is in office and regardless of property values.




I don't mind paying "fair taxes." $10,000 tax on a property worth $200k on a really good day is absurd.

I also own property in other states...

In Wisconsin, taxes would be about $3000.

In Texas, $1000.

Illinois is heading towards bankruptcy.... Per the TRIB, taxes have to double to prevent insolvency...

I paid $120k for this building... The neighbors paid $400k for theirs several years ago. They have mortgages that reflect those sums. Realistically, they are in no position to pay their mortgage...much less the taxes...

The unrealistic taxes are just going to push folks into walking away from their properties...

 

Maybe thats the plan.

 

This thread is staying here for now,since it is Chicago specific.
I'm asking all the posters to keep it civil though,refrain from personal attacks,otherwise it will be closed.