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Chapter 1 — Taxable and Exempt Property
II. [1.2] Taxable Real Property and Exempt Personal Property
III. General Exemption Principles
IV. Specific Exemption Provisions
V. [1.96] Exemption Procedure: Establishment, Maintenance, and Loss of Exemptions
Chapter 2 — Assessment of Taxable Property
I. Assessment Personnel and Listing
II. Valuation of Property
III. Taxpayer’s Right to Notice and Opportunity To Be Heard
IV. Return of Assessment Books
Chapter 3 — Appraisals
II. [3.2] Conforming to USPAP
III. Three Approaches to Value — Cost, Sales Comparison, and Income Capitalization
IV. [3.32] Contract Rent vs. Market Rent
V. [3.36] Specialized Property Types
Chapter 4 — Taxpayers’ Remedies
I. Evidence Entitling Taxpayers to Relief on Questions of Valuation
II. [4.6] Assessment Practice Outside Cook County
III. [4.13] Remedies at the Office of the Cook County Assessor
IV. Revision of Assessments by the Cook County Board of Review
V. [4.23] Certificates of Error and Correction
VI. Relief by Appeal to the Property Tax Appeal Board
VII. [4.34] Relief Through Tax Objection Proceedings
VIII. [4.41] Equitable Remedies
IX. [4.51] Equalization
X. [4.54] Federal Remedies
Chapter 5 — Administrative Challenges to Assessments and Equalization
I. Administrative Review of Assessments
II. Equalization
Chapter 6 — Practice and Procedure Before the Property Tax Appeal Board
II. Property Tax Appeal Board
III. Appendix
Chapter 7 — Tax Objection Complaints
I. Introduction
VI. Tax Objection Complaint Procedure
VII. [7.15] Tax Objection Complaints and Hearings
VIII. Appendix of Cook County Forms
Chapter 8 — Levy, Extension, and Collection of Property Taxes
I. Introduction
II. Levy of Taxes
III. Extension of Taxes
IV. Payment, Collection, and Distribution of Taxes
Chapter 9 — Tax Rate Objections
II. Objections to the Multiplier
III. Objections to Tax Levies
VI. Illustrative Rate Objections
VII. Filing and Litigating the Objections
Chapter 10 — Tax Bills and Payments; Tax Sales and Redemptions; Miscellaneous Collection and Enforcement Matters
II. [10.2] Real Estate Taxes as a First and Prior Lien
III. [10.6] Tax Collection Procedures — Current Taxes
IV. [10.19] Tax Enforcement Procedures — Delinquent Taxes
V. [10.49] The Redemption Period
VI. [10.77] Miscellaneous Provisions for Extinguishing Tax Liens
Chapter 11 — A Guide to Tax Deed and Indemnity Fund Proceedings
I. [11.1] Tax Deed Proceedings
II. [11.22] Treatment of Tax Deed Process in Bankruptcy
III. [11.28] Attacking Tax Deeds
IV. Alternative Relief — The Indemnity Fund
V. Appendix — Sample Forms (Incorporating Amendments from P.A. 97-577)No bio available.
Jeffrey S. Blumenthalis a Partner at Slutzky & Blumenthal, in Chicago, where he concentrates his practice in tax sales and tax deed litigation. Blumenthal served as Chair of the Chicago Bar Association Real Estate Taxation Committee and the Chicago Bar Association Tax Sale/Tax Deed Subcommittee. He is also a member of the Illinois Bar Association and Decalogue Society of Lawyers. He earned his B.A.S. from the University of Pennsylvania and his J.D. with high honors from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
No bio available.
Nora A. Doherty is an associate at Steven B. Pearlman & Associates in Chicago, where she focuses on negotiating real estate tax assessments, representing clients before local township assessors and boards of review throughout the entire hearing process at all levels of appeal, and advising clients on structuring prospective purchases. Ms. Doherty is a frequent presenter on real estate tax topics, particularly omitted assessments (back taxes) and the unlicensed practice of law. Ms. Doherty is a member of the Chicago Bar Association, the Illinois State Bar Association, the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois, the International Association of Assessing Officials, and the Institute for Professionals in Taxation. She is Chair of the CBA Committee on Real Estate Tax Assessments and Young Lawyers’ Section Real Estate Committee. She is also appointed to the ISBA’s Section Council on State and Local Taxation, serves on the YLS Executive Council, and serves on the Board of Governors for the Catholic Lawyers Guild. Ms. Doherty received her B.A. cum laude and J.D. from Loyola University Chicago.
No bio available.
David R. Gray, Jr., is the owner of Gray Law Offices, Ltd., in Chicago, where he concentrates in real estate and civil litigation. He is a Past Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Real Estate Taxation Committee and a member of the Chicago and Illinois State Bar Associations, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, the Appellate Lawyers Association of Illinois, and the Illinois Creditors Bar Association. He received his BA from the College of Charleston and his JD from the Valparaiso University School of Law.
Glenn S. Guttman is the Managing Member at Rieff Schramm Kanter & Guttman LLC in Chicago, where he focuses his law practice on the area of real estate property tax appeals. He is an active member of the Illinois State and American Bar Associations and the Illinois Property Tax Lawyers Association (former Treasurer), and the International Association of Assessing Officers. He is a former Chair of the main committee, Legislative Liaison, and former Chair of the Assessment and Appeals Subcommittee of the Chicago Bar Association’s Real Estate Taxation Committee. He earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
Michael J. Kelly is President of Real Estate Analysis Corporation in Chicago, where he focuses on commercial and industrial appraisals. He holds the professional designations of Member Appraisal Institute (MAI), Senior Real Property Appraiser (SRPA), and Appraisal Institute – General Review Specialist (AI-GRS). Mr. Kelly earned his B.A. from Western Illinois University and his M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.
Dana Deen Kinion is an instructor at the University of Illinois Springfield and a board member at the Property Tax Appeal Board in Springfield. She is a former associate counsel in both sales tax and income tax at the Illinois Department of Revenue. She is also a Past Chair of the Sangamon County Board of Review. Kinion received her BA from Texas A&M University, her JD from the University of Tulsa College of Law, and her LLM (Taxation) from Southern Methodist University.
Thomas J. McNulty is a Partner at Neal Gerber Eisenberg LLP, in Chicago, where he concentrates his practice in real estate tax litigation. McNulty is a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers, the Institute for Professionals in Taxation, and the Civic Federation of Chicago Executive Committee (Past Chair). He was also the recipient of the Bernard L. Barnard Outstanding Technical Essay Award (2019), has been acknowledged as among The Best Lawyers in America (recommended in “Litigation — Real Estate/Real Estate Law, Special Focus: Tax” (2010 – current), and named an Illinois Super Lawyer (recommended in “Tax: Business,” 2005, 2006, 2013 – 2019). He received his B.S. cum laude from the University of Notre Dame and his J.D. magna cum laude from Rutgers Law School.
Timothy E. Moran is a Partner at Schmidt Salzman & Moran, Ltd., in Chicago, where he concentrates in real estate taxation and related issues and in contesting real property values before assessors and boards of review in Cook and outlying counties, the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, and the circuit court, as well as litigating tax sale and tax deed-related matters in the circuit and appellate courts. Moran was formerly an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law; has participated in continuing legal education seminars on real estate taxation for the Chicago, Kane County, and Illinois State Bar Associations; and has authored articles for the ISBA and IICLE®. Moran is a Certified Illinois Assessing Official (CIAO) and an Illinois Licensed Managing Real Estate Broker. He is currently a member of the Geneva, Illinois, Planning and Zoning Commission; former Chair of the Geneva Ethics Commission; former elected member and former President and Vice President of the Board of Education of Geneva Community Unit School District #304; former Treasurer of the City of Geneva; and former Trustee and Vice President of the Geneva Library Board. He received his B.S. and J.D. from DePaul University.
Donald T. Rubin is a Partner at Golan Christie Taglia LLP in Chicago, where he concentrates his practice in property tax law. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association (State and Local Tax Council). He was selected as a Leading Lawyer (2014 – 2023) and is rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell. Mr. Rubin earned his B.A. from the University of Illinois Chicago and his J.D. from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.
Robert M. Sarnoff is Founding Principal of Sarnoff & Baccash in Chicago, where he focuses his practice on property tax law. He has been a chapter author for IICLE®’s REAL ESTATE TAXATION since its inception in 1979. He has also authored the Illinois chapter of THE PROPERTY TAX DESKBOOK, published by the American Bar Association in each edition since its inception (currently in the 28th Edition, 2023). Mr. Sarnoff serves as an Illinois Representative and Charter Member of the National Association of Property Tax Attorneys (NAPTA); a member of the Institute for Professionals in Taxation; and a member of the Chicago, Illinois State, and American Bar Associations. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory, has been awarded the Illinois Institute of Property Taxation Literary Award, and has been recognized as a Leading Lawyer by the Chicago Law Bulletin. He earned his B.S from the University of Illinois and his J.D. from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
William J. Seitz, of The Law Offices of William J. Seitz, L.L.C., in Northbrook, was previously a Special Assistant Attorney General in the Litigation Section of the Illinois Department of Revenue in Chicago. He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association State and Local Taxation Section Council. Mr. Seitz earned his B.S. from the University of Illinois, his J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and his LL.M. from the Georgetown University Law Center.
John W. VanSanten is Managing Director for Stout Risius Ross, Inc., in Chicago, where he focuses on real estate appraisals. He holds the professional designations of Appraisal Institute – General Review Specialist (AI-GRS), Member Appraisal Institute (MAI), and Counselor of Real Estate (CRE). Mr. VanSanten is a member of the Chicago Real Estate Council (Past President), the Institute for Professionals in Taxation, and the American Health Lawyers Association. He earned his B.A. from Augustana College and his M.B.A. from DePaul University.
Barbara S. Winer is Of Counsel to Rubin & Associates, LLC, in Chicago, where she concentrated her practice in real property taxation. She represented developers, owners, and tenants of large residential, commercial, and industrial properties, providing clients with a complete property tax analysis for proposed projects. She received her undergraduate degree with honors, her Master’s degree from Northwestern University, and her J.D. from DePaul University Law School.
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