As the old adage says, death and taxes are a sure thing in life, and as much as we want to avoid the subject, the inevitability of property taxes for homeowners in Cook County, is inescapable!
So here is the "skinny" on what I have been able to discover about your property taxes for this current tax year.
If you live in Cook County, you should have already paid your first 2014 installment of your property taxes. By now, you should be waiting, (nervously like most of us) for the county to calculate your balance based on your last quarter taxes.
The second and final installment will come due in August of 2015. The county already released the new tax rates for Cook County, which should allow you to calculate an estimate of your final bill.
The two numbers to pay attention to are the equalization factor and the tax rate. If you examine the table below, you will be able to determine those two numbers based on where you live in Cook County.
For example, Chicago proper is down 0.3% but the northern suburbs of Cook County are up 0.9% and the south suburbs are up a whopping 4.3%! Be aware that those are AVERAGE increases and each suburbs percentage may vary depending on property values.
If you look at the table, it shows an average increase in Chicago of 2.8%., which I am assuming reflects the average increase in property values in Cook County.
In all this gobbledygook, even if you experience an increase in assessed valuation, do not forget if you qualify for the homestead exemption; remember to factor this into your calculations for your new rate.
And most importantly, understand that this is all just an estimate!
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