Assessor’s Office

Appealing Your Assessment

Property owners have three venues through which they may appeal their assessments. The first place you may appeal is the Cook County Assessor’s Office. If you do not appeal to the County Assessor, or if the reduction granted is too small, you may then appeal to the Cook County Board of Review. Your last chance for assessment reduction is with the Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB). However, you may not appeal to the PTAB unless you have already appealed to the Board of Review.

How to File an Appeal

The Cook County Assessor’s Office has a step-by-step guide to assist you with filing your appeal online by clicking here. Create a new account here.

Residential Property Tax Exemptions

Assessor’s office staff will help process exemption applications to be sent to Cook County. Exemptions reduce homeowner tax bills and appear on second installment tax bills. The Assessor’s Office can help with the following exemptions:

• Homeowner Exemptions are available to single-family residential property owners and can save homeowners as much as $1,000 a year.
• Senior Exemptions are available for residential property owners who are 65 years of age in the tax year in which they are filing for or 66 in the current year. This exemption could help save you up to $800 and must be filed every year to qualify.
• Senior Tax Freeze Exemptions are available for residential property owners who are 65 years of age in the tax year in which they are filing for or 66 in the current year, with a household income of $65,000 or under. This exemption freezes the assessed value of your home for one year, reducing the rate of growth of your property taxes. Seniors must file every year in order to receive this exemption.
• Disabled Persons Exemptions are available to residential property owners who are deemed disabled as of January 1st of the tax year for which they are applying. Form PTAX 343A would need to be filled out by the doctor if under 65 years of age. Forms are available on the Cook County Assessor’s website or can be picked up in our office. If receiving social security disability, we need a copy of the award letter which must state the year in which the disability was granted or the PTAX 343A may be filled out by your doctor.
• Disabled Veterans Homeowners Exemptions are available to residential property owners who are veterans with a service-connected disability as certified by the U.S Department of Veterans Affairs. Reductions are based on the percentage level of disability rating. Unless you have an established rating of 100% and permanent and totally disabled by the VA granted, this would have to be renewed each year. Please contact our office for a more detailed explanation.
• Returning Veterans Exemptions are available to “recently” returning veterans from active duty in armed conflict. This exemption could help save you approximately $500 annually but only for the taxable year in which the veteran returns. It must be applied for each year.

Exemption Explanation Handouts

• Explanation of Exemptions – English
• Explanation of Exemptions – Polish
• Explanation of Exemptions – Spanish

Cook County Treasurer's Refund Outreach

Cook County residents who overpaid on their property tax bill may be eligible for a refund. Residents can check eligibility by visiting cookcountytreasurer.com and entering their property address information. The following video from the office of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas gives step-by-step instructions on how to apply to receive your refund.

View the video in Spanish:

View the video in Polish:

To view this video in other languages, please visit the Cook County Treasurer’s website.