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Role of the Assessor’s Office

The Cook County Assessor’s Office (CCAO) has three primary roles within the Cook County
property tax system.

1. Valuing Property
For nearly 1.9 million parcels of residential and commercial
properties, the primary duty of the Cook County Assessor’s Fair Cash Value (35 ILCS
Office is to fairly and uniformly determine this: 200/1-50): “The amount for
which a property can be sold
“What is this property worth?” in the due course of business
and trade, not under duress,
Per the Illinois Property Tax Code, each property in Cook between a willing buyer and a
County is reassessed every three years (35 ILCS 200/9-220) willing seller.”
according to its Fair Cash Value.

Cook County follows a triennial
reassessment cycle. A
property’s reassessment year
depends on the location of the
property. Townships in the
north and northwest suburbs
were reassessed in 2016 and
2019. Townships in the City of
Chicago were reassessed in
2018 and will be reassessed
again in 2021. Townships in
the south and southwest
suburbs were reassessed in
2017 and again in 2020.

Other events might cause a
change in assessment of an
individual property in a non-
reassessment year. If the
CCAO is notified of a change
to the property that may affect
its assessed value, the
CCAO’s field staff will verify
these changes and calculate a
new, proposed assessed value for the property.

The events that prompt these changes in assessment out of the triennial reassessment cycle may
include things such as new construction, a division of a property, a fire, or a change in vacancy or
occupancy status.

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