Commercial property tax appeals

Описание: Are you considering filing a commercial property tax appeal? Check out this video for answers to some frequently asked questions about appealing your taxes.

Hey everyone, welcome to the LawFull channel. My name is Barry Zlotowicz and I’m an attorney in Chicago. This is a great place to get answers to your every day legal questions so if you haven’t already please subscribe to my channel. And if you have any questions, put them in the comments section.

Today I’m with Chicago real estate attorney Fred Agustin. So, the first question is, is appealing your property taxes a federal or state issue? It’s a state and even municipal issue. We’re in the state of Illinois so make sure you check your state and jurisdiction for the laws where you are.

So we’re talking about commercial property real estate property tax appeals. When you say commercial property what are you talking about?
On the residential side, commercial properties could include multi unit residential buildings and condominiums. On the commercial property side, it could include retail, office buildings and industrial properties.

On the residential side, multi unit residential buildings and condos are assessed at 10 percent of their fair market value in Cook County. The commercial properties are assessed at 25 percent of the fair market value.

There are many different ways to appeal your property taxes. These include

A. Market Value: for market value you want to get an Appraisal Report either a full appraisal report or limited appraisal report.

The full appraisal involves three approaches to value:
1. Cost approach
2. Income approach
3. Sales comparison approach

A limited appraisal will only look at the sales comparison approach.

B. The second way to appeal your property is based on an income analysis. This is for properties that are leased. You are analyzing the income that the property produces and you come up with a cap rate to come up with the valuation.

C. The third way under market value is by looking at recent sales. It has to be an arms-length sale. But note that the recent sale is only good for one year and Cook County will reassess in the next year

D. The fourth way is to assess by vacancy. If you have an income producing policy and it’s vacant, if you are trying to get tenants you can get a partial assessment which is also good for only one year.

How do you appeal a condominium’s property taxes? The condo owners should appeal as a “group.” Meaning, as an association or the majority of condo owners should appeal together. The County is going to try and come up with a valuation of the whole building so appealing as a group is optimal.

So where do you appeal property taxes? There are 2 “levels” where you can appeal. The first is at the Cook County Assessor’s office or the Cook County Board of Review – or, you can appeal at both at the same time.

If you’re not happy with the review, you can appeal on a second level which is at the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) or you can file a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court.

Finally, you can appeal your property taxes every year in Cook County. This is different than the assessment which occurs every three years. But again, you can appeal your property taxes every year.

Thanks for checking out this video on commercial real estate property tax appeals. If you haven’t already, please subscribe to my channel and If you have any questions, please reach out to me. If I can’t help you I’ll find someone who can.