Just mention Chicago property taxes...

No one, and I mean no one, gets the whole Chicago property tax assessment thing. Sure, I can calculate taxes based on a property's assessed value and equalize it ... but who determines the assessed value? Barry Pearce lights a fire on *"Cyber Monday" at Yo Chicago , which has a great discussion in the comments concerning today's Tribune story about the sun setting on the county tax cap legislation. Why isn't this front page news? Oh yeah, Da Bears are on the front page... Nice, Chicago Tribune.

Good catch Barry.

The property tax in the most basic terms is figured out like this... Locate assessed value (according to the Modern Real Estate Practice in Illinois (5th Ed.), this is usually 1/3 of market value).

Equalize the assessed value to bring it in line with current market values. This is done by multiplying the assessed value by value. Lets say the area is under taxed by 25%. You would multiply the assessed value then by 1.25 to bring it up to market values. This can be done to lower the tax as well.

Subtract any homestead exemption ($4500 in Cook County) or Senior Citizen exemptions etc... (know your exemptions).

Now, multiply by the tax rate for that particular taxing district. This is determined by the needs of the taxing district's budget and spread out amongst all the good citizens who have the privilage of owning property in our kingdom.

In Chicago, typically your yearly tax bill will amount to 1-2% of your purchase price of the unit for new developments. Existing properties... well, that's all over the place.

For more information on Cook County property taxes go HERE