Chicago homeowners remember all too well the large increase they saw when they received their delayed 2021 property tax bills. Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi was re-elected back in November 2022 and had campaigned he would ease the tax burden on Chicago homeowners by pushing the burden to commercial property owners that had been the beneficiary of large tax breaks.
In an article published in Axios Chicago, reporters Justin Kaufmann and Monica Eng recall that those commercial property owners went to the Board of Appeals to challenge the new assessments and were granted an appeal. Thus moving the burden back to homeowners and causing understandable confusion and outrage.
Now, Kaegi, is looking to make good on his original promise to homeowners in Chicago. The article states, “Last week Kaegi reset the value of 559 commercial buildings to their higher 2021 levels after they were lowered on appeal by the Board of Review last year. He believes the board incorrectly granted tax reductions on the properties.”
Of course, its expected these building owners will attempt to appeal these values again. Yet, the board is made up of a few new members and Kaegi hopes they agree with the increased values. The article quotes him, "These new commissioners can decide if they're going to do the same thing that the old folks did or if they're going to act differently."
Read the entire article.