File Smarter, Not Harder: How the Assessor’s Office Went Digital

About the Program

Category: Information Technology (Best in Category)

Year: 2021

For the first time in the history of the Cook County Assessor's Office (CCAO), applications for property tax exemptions and all property assessment appeals were fully accessible online. Until 2020, an office that assesses over 1.9 million parcels still relied on paper applications. Under Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, the office made a significant leap forward in the technological modernization of the third largest assessment jurisdiction in the nation. The CCAO’s core functions are to produce property assessments, process assessment appeals, and administer property tax exemptions. Exemptions are savings that homeowners may apply to reduce their property tax bill. These exemptions provide hundreds of thousands of homeowners, seniors, veterans, and persons with disabilities with savings that range from $600 to over $1,000. Paper-based appeals and exemption applications were time-consuming for staff to process and file. They were onerous for taxpayers who could not track the status of a mailed form. As a solution, CCAO implemented online applications that made it possible for staff to file and access an exemption or appeal, even during remote work. These applications also allowed property owners to track the status of their filings.