You may have heard from a neighbor, seen a flyer, gotten a black and white notice with a small photo of your house from the Cook County Assessor's Office (CCAO) and heard something about property taxes. And possibly someone on Facebook or in person may have mentioned you should appeal. This can certainly be confusing if you never received a notice or misplaced it, so here's a quick guide to help you find out if your property is valued higher than previous years, which ultimately raises your property taxes.

Find Your PIN: Property Index Number

Why do you need your PIN? It makes everything easier in case you need to look up any information, and you will need this if you decide to file using a paper form.

1. You can find your property PIN on any of your Cook County tax records, your sale papers, or the sheet from the CCAO that was mailed out about a month before your deadline to appeal (Jefferson Township is August 18, 2018).

2. You can also search for your PIN on many city websites, but the CCAO allows you to search by your address and find your PIN. They even have a handy video that walks you through this on their website:

Once you find your PIN, you are ready to look up your property value and determine if you would like to appeal. If you still can't find your PIN, you can also go to Search > Property > Property Search by Address. 

Your New Assessed Value

Paper Assessment: If you have your recent property assessment from the CCAO, the black and white one-sheeter that has a photo of your house, it should show you assessed market value for 2018, 2017 and 2016. More than likely, these value columns have gone up, which means you should appeal. 

Online Assessment: If you do not have a paper form and you've gotten your PIN, go to the http://www.cookcountyassessor.com and navigate to Search > Property > Property Search by PIN. Once you enter your PIN and the random security code to make sure you are not a robot and submit the form, you will see all your personal data and property information. You will see 2018 and 2017 assessed value.

Yes, any of your neighbors can look up your Property Value, and vice versa. You can also see if they have appealed!

You should review all details about your property to make sure it is correct.

• Number of stories 

• Single or multifamily residence

• Number of Full and Half Baths

• Basement and Attic: Full or None? Unfinished or Finished?

• Central air?

• Number of fireplaces?

• Garage type?: 1? 2? Attached or Detached?

• Age

• Square Footage