Cook County homeowners await property tax refund delays due to assessment errors: 'Very frustrating'

LYONS TOWNSHIP, Ill. (WLS) -- Cook County homeowners told the ABC7 I-Team they have continuing frustrations over money they are owed but never received.

The I-Team investigated complaints about delayed property tax refunds and disputes in Lyons Township, finding that several people can't get their hands on more than $125,000 in property tax refunds, which they believe they're owed.

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Eleven homeowners in Lyons Township say they're owed that money because of errors on their assessments by the Cook County Assessor's Office. Those mistakes resulted in them being overcharged on property tax bills.

The group wants answers from Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi. They met the I-Team at the Lyons Township Assessor's Office.

Township assessors help homeowners prove mistakes to the county.

Three of the homeowners all live in the same townhouse complex. They said they were initially denied but are still fighting to get certificates of error to get refunds from the county. That's because they were assessed for their townhomes several months before they were occupied and completed. The township assessor says the new construction should not have been assessed until the date of occupancy

"It's very frustrating because at this point, we don't know if we can trust the system," Filip Rakovski said.

READ MORE | Several homeowners waiting for Cook County to return thousands in overpaid property taxes

And on top of all of that, one of the townhome owners, Grace Zwit, said she's waiting on her late husband's veterans exemption to kick in.

"And I did lose my husband. So, you know, he died. And one of the comforts for him was knowing that I wasn't going to have to deal with taxes because I had the veteran's exemption that he got from his 100% disability," Zwit said.

The I-Team supplied the Cook County Assessor's Office with details on all 11 cases. The Assessor's Office said the Certificate of Error process involves multiple steps within their office and between different offices in the property tax system, like the Board of Review, the Treasurer's office, and the Clerk's office.

Angelina Romero/Chief Communications officer, Cook County Assessor's Office JK RT 6:24 "JK You have to understand their frustration. Oh, definitely.

"Definitely empathize with them, understand the frustration," said Angelina Romero, Chief Communications Officer at the Cook County Assessor's Office. "They're waiting on these refund checks. We're working to get these processed and approved "

The process could also include in-person field inspections. The I-Team is also learning there are going to be further hold ups for many. That's because of a current delay on the county's computer system upgrade.