MAJOR CHANGE TO COOK COUNTY ASSESSOR'S FILING DEADLINES

I am pleased to announce that the bill I drafted and was sponsored by the Illinois Property Tax Lawyers Association, has been signed into law by Governor Pritzker as Public Act 103-0583. The new law will become effective in June of 2024. It provides taxpayers throughout Cook County with additional time to complete their appeals. This will not only be of great assistance to taxpayers, but will also reduce the deadline stress for practitioners and appraisers. The language contained in the new law states as follows:

"When the Cook County Assessor revises an assessment (not as the result of an appeal), the Assessor shall continue to accept appeals from the taxpayer for a period of not less than 30 business days from the later of the date the assessment notice is mailed or is published on the Assessor's website."

The previous law allowed only a 30 calendar day filing period which included weekends and holidays, resulting in fewer working days available for taxpayers to complete their appeals, particularly in months that had more weekends or holidays. This led to a non-uniform filing period for many Townships, as some months, such as April of 2023, had 10 weekend days, whereas most months had 8 weekend days. Furthermore, the Assessor would oftentimes publish notices days after a Township had actually been open for filing, further cutting back on the time available to prepare and file an appeal.

Great news for everyone involved in the property tax appeal process.