Cook County Assessor to correct thousands of property tax assessment errors in south, west suburbs

CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Cook County Assessor is planning to correct thousands of assessment errors in the south and west suburbs after i-Team reports about mistakes and high increases in property tax assessments.

In past reports, the Assessor's Office admitted some south suburban homeowners were over-assessed. Now we have found there were more than 4,000 of these errors. A letter obtained by the I-Team shows that the Assessor's Office is working to correct problems.

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"We are working to correct the errors, because a 1,000 of those fell in our lap and the BOR is actively working to correct that," said George Cardenas, Cook County Board of Review commissioner.

Cardenas is referring to a letter from Assessor Fritz Kaegi to the commissioners, stating his "office is correcting a significant number of property values in the South and West suburbs for Tax Year 2023."

It says the land value for those properties was "calculated incorrectly," resulting in "a higher assessed value of many properties."

READ MORE: South suburban homeowners say property tax assessments raised up to 650%: 'I will probably move'

Cardenas said his office has been working on the issue for months.

"We'll do everything we can to help homeowners, in my area I'm working with the township assessors in Berwyn, Lyons," he said.

In November 2023, the I-Team uncovered errors in the Tinley Park area. The assessor admitted to some mistakes. Then, in spring, a similar story came from residents in Lyons Township. Jami Flaws said her property tax assessment hike could double her taxes.

RELATED: Cook County property taxes higher in south suburbs than north; some families worry about losing home

"We probably won't be able to sell our homes because they aren't even close to what the assessment says," she said.

Kaegi's office admitted that it made an error on Flaws' assessment and one other, then submitted a request for a correction to the Cook County Board of Review. This later letter talks about more errors which the assessor said total over 4,000 properties. The I-Team obtained a list of 1,000 of those properties.

"There is no doubt in my mind that ABC helped because you picked up the story and gave it life," Cardenas said.

MORE COVERAGE: South suburban property assessments jump up 100-200 percent, bringing huge tax increases

Kaegi released a statement, saying affected property owners won't have to do anything and that the corrections will be completed "in time so these homeowners will not pay more in property taxes than they should."

The Assessor's Office added the correction process has not yet been finalized, but the hope is to have them made before the July property tax bills come out.