Joint Effor By Cook County Officials Brings Clarity To Online Assessment Data

Commissioner Kevin Morrison and Assessor Fritz Kaegi announce website changes prior to re-assessment of Cook County’s northern suburbs

Cook County Commissioner Kevin Morrison and Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi jointly announced changes to the Assessor’s website (cookcountyassessor.com) which will make it easier for taxpayers to access neighborhood-level data about comparable properties in their area. These changes will make it easier to review upcoming re-assessments in the northern suburbs as well properties throughout the county.

Prior to these changes, Cook County taxpayers would need to search multiple areas of the Assessor’s website to review how a property’s square footage, building assessed value and land assessed value compare to similar properties within a neighborhood. A discussion between Commissioner Morrison and Assessor Kaegi’s offices created a more streamlined design and data solution for the website, which was launched immediately.

“I am grateful to Assessor Kaegi’s willingness to make these much needed updates to the Assessor’s website, said Commissioner Morrison. “As the northern suburbs of the 15th district get reassessed this year, I want my constituents to have both the resources they need to determine if they have been assessed at the correct value and the tools to ensure a fair appeals process.”

“I look forward to continuing to work with Assessor Kaegi, who I know is working hard to make the property assessment process more equitable for all.”

Allowing residents quick access to their property’s square footage, land assessment, and building assessment will provide important information needed to determine a property’s assessed value and provide a more transparent understanding of the fairness of a particular assessment. This information is also useful for taxpayers who wish to file an appeal.

“Our office will be transparent in how we determine a taxpayer’s assessment,” said Assessor Kaegi. “We’ll be publishing our models and code in the coming months and relaunching our website at a future date. But there are other smart changes, like this, that we can make immediately. We look forward to continuing a dialogue with Commissioner Morrison and other elected officials on the improvements in our office.”

Re-assessment notices for the northern suburbs of Cook County will be sent out between the end of February and end of September 2019. The southern suburbs will be re-assessed in 2020 and the city of Chicago will be completed in 2021.

For comparable property data and other information on assessments, residents can visit cookcountyassessor.com.