Assessment data in Cook County has not been accurately collected in over 30 years. With the aging of property data and all of the “just plain wrong” property data, assessments could not be even close to accurate. To accurately value property, you need accurate property data. Everyone has heard the saying, “Garbage in equals Garbage out”. This is also true with assessments. And that is the state of affairs at the Assessors Office.
I maintain the Assessors Office should accurately update the outdated and “just plain wrong” assessment data in a cost efficient manner and maintain it, so that it is not necessary to completely update the data again. This can be done without any increase in spending at the Assessors Office. Modern assessment software and techniques can efficiently accomplish this in less than a year.
This would lead to the discovery of prior omitted or under-assessed property and the correct valuation of property so that every assessment would be fair. This in turn would lead to a lower tax rate as property formerly missed is now paying its fair share.
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Funny thing happened to me late last year, and still isn’t fixed. I purchased a home in 2005, and although I filed for homeowners exceptions with the Assessor’s Office, I didn’t see a reduction in my taxes. Last August I received my second bill, which included my 2008 homeowners exemption and senior exception and a senior freeze. Well being 34, I decided I probably wasn’t a senior citizen and travelled down to the County Offices to try to fix this. I was very politely greeted, and the extra exemptions were removed from my bill. However, this got “fixed” retroactively, and since the property was issued 2 Certificates of Error, with the senior exemptions, I became in arrears for the previous 2 tax years. So I did some investigation, and it seems that Assessors Office issued the COEs to a third party, then directed the Treasurer’s Office to issue checks to this same third party. So currently the Treasurer’s office can’t do anything, they were only doing what the Assessor’s Office told them, and the Assessor’s Office can’t do anything because the Treasurer’s Office has paid out on the mistake. Further research has showed that the third party, actually was issued COE’s and Checks for their own property, too.
So I’m stuck having paid my taxes without my homeowner’s exemption, having somebody else request a COE, having it be issued to them, and I’m now responsible to pay the “difference.”
Anyway, good luck this fall, I am hoping you might be able to fix this miscommunication and mis-direction, blaming other departments, and making citizens whole, as opposed to owing hundreds of dollars more.
Greg