As Cook County taxpayers receive their second installment 2012 property tax bills, the final assessment abstract for Cook County reveals a source of the higher tax rates they will see, the continuing decline of the property tax base.  For the fourth year, we have collected and analyzed this information for the County as a whole, for each triennial reassessment district, and for each township.  Links to this information are available below.

Cook County Assessed Value

The assessed value of all property in the County declined by 5% between tax years 2011 and 2012.  While commercial and industrial property values declined only slightly, residential property values continued the sharp declines from the past several years, dropping another 7% from the year before.  Since 2008, the assessed value of all property in the County declined by 23%, from $72.4 billion in 2008 down to $55.9 billion in 2012.  The largest decline continues to occur in the residential property class, which fell from $45 billion in 2008 to $35 billion in 2012.

2008-2012 Triennial Reassessment District Table
2008-2012 Cook County Assessed Value Chart

City of Chicago Assessed Value

The City of Chicago was reassessed for the 2012 tax year, while the north and south suburbs were not.  While the north and south suburbs therefore had little change in their assessed value, the City of Chicago experienced declines.  The sharpest decline occurred in residential real estate, where the assessed value declined from $17.9 billion in the 2011 tax year to $15.5 billion in the 2012 tax year.  Commercial and industrial property on the other hand experienced a smaller decline, falling from $10.4 billion in 2011 to $10.2 billion in 2012.

2008-2012 City of Chicago Assessed Value Chart

Suburban Township Assessed Value

We have also compiled the assessed value by class of property for each of the suburban townships from 2010 through 2012.  If you are interested in your township, click the link below.

2010 – 2012 Suburban Township Assessed Value Table

These declines in all parts of the County result in increased tax rates to generate the property tax revenue allowed under the Property Tax Extension Limitation Law.  But, tax rates will not be able to rise indefinitely.  Maximum tax rates, such as 3.5% for an educational fund, are set by the School Code.  The current trends indicate that many districts will now be moving closer to those statutory rate limits.