On Friday, The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi is moving to send notices to all property owners in Cook County regarding the effect of the coronavirus on property owners.  Reassessment notices will still be sent to all property owners in south suburban Cook County in accordance with the 2020 triennial reassessment schedule, but property owners in north suburban Cook County and the City of Chicago will also receive notices informing them that the coronavirus may have impacted the value of their property.  These non-reassessment year notices will also include the Assessor’s estimate of the new property value.  All property owners will then have the opportunity to appeal their assessments at the Assessor’s Office.

The 2020 reassessment of south suburban Cook County was temporarily suspended last month due to the pandemic.  This new step by the Assessor’s Office effectively creates a reassessment of the entire County in light of the coronavirus.  To accommodate the massive number of appeals this is expected to generate, the appeals period at the Assessor’s Office will be shortened from 40 days to 35 days and the re-review period is being eliminated. 

The Assessor’s Office is currently examining data from other natural disasters and economic crises to help quantify the “coronavirus effect” on property values.  However, the lack of comparable events will be a challenge for an Office that is taking significant steps to be driven primarily by data.  We will continue to provide updates on all property tax related events as they occur.