West Chicago Township Valuation Reports 2021

The Cook County Assessor’s Office released these initial assessments of residential and commercial properties in the township of West Chicago. This is the second of eight townships in the City of Chicago to be reassessed in 2021 and the second Chicago township to be reassessed under the leadership of Assessor Fritz Kaegi, who took office after Chicago’s last reassessment in 2018.

Increases in assessments reflect a robust market. Assessments, under Illinois law, should reflect overall market values. The first step to ensuring property owners pay only their fair share of property taxes—without needing to file appeals to correct inaccurate assessments—is to make sure assessments of all property types accurately reflect the real estate market.

Changes in assessed value in West Chicago Township

The following chart represents the increase in total assessed value in residential and commercial properties in West Chicago Township. The numbers below are prior to adjustments that may come after appeals.

Note: percentage increases and total increases for that category, not average property increases.

How assessments relate to property taxes

It is important to understand that an increase in a property's assessment does not lead to the same increase in an individual property’s tax bill. A property’s share of taxes depends on reassessments throughout all of Chicago, from homes in Chatham and Jefferson Park to commercial properties in Little Village and the Loop.

If the growth in assessed values elsewhere in Chicago outpaces the growth of an individual property’s assessment, that individual property’s share of property taxes could shrink despite its increase in property value. In 2018, properties in West Township made up 17% of Chicago’s total assessed value.

Property assessments in Chicago are used to apportion taxing district levies which pay for services such as schools, parks, libraries, and pensions. The Assessor does not set levies or tax rates. Also, increases in assessments do not necessarily increase the revenue received by taxing districts.

The graphs below show that in West Chicago, there were increases in both residential and non-residential total assessed value. These increases also shifted West Chicago's balance of residential and non-residential assessed value.

At the end of the 2018 reassessment cycle, 54% of West Township’s total assessed value was residential, with the other 46% comprised non-residential and commercial multi-family properties.

The 2021 initial reassessed values have shifted this to 40% residential, and 60% non-residential and commercial multi-family properties. These percentages may change at the final stage of assessment after appeals are processed by the Assessor's Office and by the Board of Review

2021 assessments will affect the second installment property tax bill issued in late 2022.

Residential modeling reports

Residential assessments are based on several factors, including location, age, neighborhood school boundaries, square footage, construction material, and the number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

The Estimated Market Values produced by the model are reviewed by our analysts, neighborhood by neighborhood. If warranted, our analysts refine the Estimated Market Values predicted by the model before the value is mailed to the homeowner. 

Commercial reports

West Chicago's commercial properties contain about:

• 1,853 apartment buildings
• 607 office buildings
• 1,997 industrial buildings
• 2,895 retail shopping centers or other special commercial properties (classes 5-31 and 5-97)

In the three years since 2018's reassessment, commercial real estate sale prices and rents—therefore, estimated market values and assessed values—have grown overall from 2018 to 2021 for most property types.

In the last year, COVID-19 and associated shutdowns have had varying effects throughout Chicago. Hotels and retail properties are among the sectors with the largest declines since the onset of COVID, whereas large multifamily apartments, grocery stores, industrial buildings, and data centers have been stable or even met positive growth since the onset of COVID.

• Market rents for apartments in West Chicago range from $650 to $2600 a month. Market vacancy is between 5-10%.
  • Market values are estimated from $30,000 to $680,000 per unit.
• Office buildings in West Chicago range in size from 700 to 1.1M in square footage and are assessed at $5.00 - $43.00 in rent per square foot with 4-20% market vacancy.
  • Estimated market values are $48-$411 per square foot.

This commercial assessment report contains information about rents, expenses, and capitalization rates used by the Assessor's Office to determine assessments, including offices, hotels, industrial. and large multi-family apartments. For more on the Assessor's Office's commercial assessment methodology, read How Commercial Properties Are Valued.

Commercial Assessment Report

How residential assessments are calculated

Residential assessments are based on several factors, including location, age, neighborhood school boundaries, square footage, construction material, and the number of bedrooms or bathrooms.

In order to detect the many different ways that homes’ physical characteristics and locations impact sale prices over time, we design a range of statistical, algorithmic models, which are then tested to see how well they compare to actual databases of sale prices. analysts examine estimated market values for different property classes, neighborhood by neighborhood, to verify that the model has performed effectively and that values fall in a reasonable range.

Improvements to data and modeling used by the Assessor’s Office since 2018 have improved assessment accuracy, uniformity, and equity—for neighborhoods, and for individual homes.

How commercial assessments are calculated

Our office first determines a property’s use (office, retail, apartments, industrial, etc.) and group the property with similar or like-kind property types. Then we examine the income generated by the property such as rent or incidental income streams like parking or advertising signage. Next, we examine market-level vacancy based on location and property type. In addition, new construction that has not yet been leased is also considered. Finally, we look at expenses such as property taxes, insurance, repair and maintenance costs, property management fees, and service expenditures for professional services. Once we’ve been able to recreate a snapshot of a property’s income statement based on market data, we use a standard valuation metric called a “capitalization rate” to convert income to value. 

More information on how assessments are calculated can be found at the How Properties Are Valued page.

Events for West Township homeowners

The Assessor's Office staff host virtual events to provide information and answer your questions about reassessments and appeals. See the full list.

Appeals

If the property characteristics listed on your assessment notice are incorrect, or if the estimated market value of your home is significantly more than what you believe your home could sell for in the current real estate market, you should file an appeal. The last date to file an appeal is printed on your notice. A good rule of thumb is this: If the property characteristics on this notice are correct and the estimated market value is within 10 percent of what you think your home is worth then it is unlikely that an appeal would change your property’s assessed value enough to significantly affect its property tax bill.

If you would like to file an appeal of your property's assessment, we encourage you to file online. The appeal deadline for West Chicago Township is August 23, 2021.

For assistance with appeals, contact the CCAO's main office via phone, email, or social media. In-person visits are currently available by appointment.