A collection groan often goes up to the heavens when the County Assessor notices go out to property owners. And it's no wonder; some increases on property assessments have the capacity to burden some property owners, if not incense them.
This phenomena is nothing new; waaaay back in 1789 a rather influential fellow named Benjamin Franklin wrote "But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
Ok, so you open your latest property assessment notice and are, shall we say, displeased. "What to do?" you ask. Fair question. There are three levels of appeal, which in theory can all be accomplished by the property owner without assistance of a legal expert.
For more direct assistance in appealing your property assessment, stop by or telephone your township assessor's office. Here on the North Shore, most communities are covered by either the Winnetka office (739 Elm Street, 847-446-8200), the Evanston office (846 Dodge Avenue, 847-332-2465), or the Northfield office (3801 West Lake in Glenview, 847-724-8300 ).
An excellent description of your rights to appeal are found on County Commissioner Larry Suffredin's website. Whether or not Larry is your elected representative to the County, this is a great resource:
http://www.suffredin.org/issues/issue.asp?issueid=8
As for the question of hiring an attorney to represent you in an appeal, well, you can if you want, but if you can research and manage the data needed to file and defend your appeal, you probably don't need to. Having said that, condominium board of directors might benefit from an attorney's expertise because the issues are a bit more complex in such an appeal. Condominium owners are advised NOT to file an appeal on their own for their individual unit. You are potentially going to stymie the attempts of other owners in your building (or your entire association) to also file an appeal. Talk to your Board of Directors if you have any questions about appealing the property assessment in your building. If you really need to have an attorney help you, search for expert representation on this website:
www.findlaw.com
And may the fates smile on your appeal efforts.
This phenomena is nothing new; waaaay back in 1789 a rather influential fellow named Benjamin Franklin wrote "But in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
Ok, so you open your latest property assessment notice and are, shall we say, displeased. "What to do?" you ask. Fair question. There are three levels of appeal, which in theory can all be accomplished by the property owner without assistance of a legal expert.
For more direct assistance in appealing your property assessment, stop by or telephone your township assessor's office. Here on the North Shore, most communities are covered by either the Winnetka office (739 Elm Street, 847-446-8200), the Evanston office (846 Dodge Avenue, 847-332-2465), or the Northfield office (3801 West Lake in Glenview, 847-724-8300 ).
An excellent description of your rights to appeal are found on County Commissioner Larry Suffredin's website. Whether or not Larry is your elected representative to the County, this is a great resource:
http://www.suffredin.org/issues/issue.asp?issueid=8
As for the question of hiring an attorney to represent you in an appeal, well, you can if you want, but if you can research and manage the data needed to file and defend your appeal, you probably don't need to. Having said that, condominium board of directors might benefit from an attorney's expertise because the issues are a bit more complex in such an appeal. Condominium owners are advised NOT to file an appeal on their own for their individual unit. You are potentially going to stymie the attempts of other owners in your building (or your entire association) to also file an appeal. Talk to your Board of Directors if you have any questions about appealing the property assessment in your building. If you really need to have an attorney help you, search for expert representation on this website:
www.findlaw.com
And may the fates smile on your appeal efforts.
1 comment:
Thank you. This is very valuable information.
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