What is the Covid-19 Adjustment for Cook County Property Taxes?

Due to a record-breaking number of unemployment claims in Illinois, significant downturns in some commercial sectors, widespread loss of rental income, and disaster declarations in Cook County, the Cook County Assessor’s Office determined that Covid -19 adjustments should be made to some property values.

Is everyone getting a Covid-19 adjustment to their property’s value? According to the Cook County Assessor’s Office, the plan is that all homes in Cook County should receive Covid-19 adjustments to property values, based on the Assessor’s Data Science team’s estimates of local changes in unemployment. Areas with larger increases in unemployment should see larger adjustments.

What data did the Assessor’s Office use to make changes to residential values? Estimates of neighborhood unemployment were a factor. According to the Assessor’s Office, the local increases in unemployment were used to determine Covid-19 adjustments (the median adjustment was 10%). Neighborhoods with larger increases in unemployment are supposed to have larger increases in adjustments.

Commercial properties should receive adjustments based on estimated effects on property use types, which range from no effect (for example, grocery stores) to large effects (hotels).

When will you know if your property received a Covid-19 adjusted value? If you received a Covid-19 adjustment on your property, a notice should have already been mailed to you by the Cook County Assessor’s Office.