Property in the northern suburbs of Cook County will be re-assessed in 2022.

Assessment notices are mailed one township at a time, typically from February through September. But this year, they will be mailed late – very late.

Why?

The Assessor implemented a new computer system in 2021 that had many problems. It was poorly planned and implemented and prevented the Assessor from completing his work on time. It will also cause huge delays to other government agencies that need to complete their work before tax bills are issued.

Under normal circumstances, the Assessor starts his work in February, completes it by November and delivers a steady stream of work to the Board of Review during the year so it can hear tax appeal cases. The Assessor usually completes all of his work by November. But this year, he completed no work by November; current projections have him finishing up in April, about 5 months later than normal.

That will delay the Board of Review. Normally, the Board starts hearing tax appeals in August, but the Assessor’s delays prevented the Board from hearing tax appeals until January. The bulk of its work will be delayed until this summer.

So, while the Board normally completes its work by May, this year it may not be done until the end of 2022.

How will this impact tax bills?

Tax bills will be substantially delayed – perhaps up to six months.

Tax bills are usually mailed in June. But this year they may not be mailed until December or January and may collide with the 2023 first installment tax bills that will come out around the same time. That will cause major confusion. But on the positive side, you will have more time to pay your 2021 second installment taxes.

When will you receive your 2022 assessment notice?

 We’re not sure.

If the Assessor completes his 2021 work by April, he may start sending 2022 assessment notices shortly after that (May?). That would move things along but cause confusion because the Board will still be hearing 2021 tax appeals when the Assessor releases its 2022 assessments.

Alternatively, the Assessor could wait to start the 2022 re-assessment until he and the Board of Review complete their work for 2021. If that happens (probably unlikely), the first 2022 assessment notices may not be mailed until the end of this year – 8 to 10 months late. That will delay next year’s tax bills.

We will notify you once we have a better idea of when 2022 north suburban assessment notices will be mailed.