If you believe your assessment is incorrect, follow the appeal steps below:

Start with the Township Assessor who placed the assessment on your property. You may visit the office and review your property record card and check for errors in the physical characteristics of the property. This informal review should be done between January 1st and June 1st of the assessment year. You may also review other assessments and property record cards in your neighborhood to check for equity. You will be able to review sales of properties in your neighborhood. If, after reviewing the data you still believe you are over assessed, you may discuss the assessment with the Township Assessor who will explain the details of the current assessment.

File an assessment appeal form with the County Board of Review if you disagree with the Assessor’s valuation. The complaint session for the Board of Review begins on the day of publication. This is the day that changes of assessments are published by the Office of the Chief County Assessment Officer. The property owner has thirty (30) days from that date to file a formal complaint with the Board of Review. Specific forms are required to file a complaint. Forms will be available at the Township Assessor’s Office or the County Board of Review Office. Complaints not on the approved form will not be processed. There are separate forms for commercial, residential, and farm properties. You must be prepared to prove the market value of your property or demonstrate how your valuation is higher than similar properties in your area. If requested, a hearing date will be scheduled and evidence will be reviewed by the Board of Review.

File an appeal with the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board if you disagree with the decision made by the County Board of Review. You must submit evidence, including photos of the property, sales contracts, appraisals, or any other pertinent data that will support your opinion of value.

This is a county process, although you may contact the Township Assessor’s Office for the forms or assistance.

Tips for filing good appeals:

• The best evidence to value is a recent appraisal. Recent sales of the property or recent sales of similar properties are also strong evidence to use.
• Be sure to review your property characteristics at the Assessor’s Office before filing an appeal.
• Understand that Fair Market Value is not the highest or lowest selling price of a property but the most probable selling price.
• When comparing properties in your area, use only similar properties (i.e. same design, same size, etc.).
• Board of Review Appeal forms and Property Tax Appeal Board Appeal forms are available at our office.