Managing property taxes is just one of the responsibilities of home ownership, along with maintenance and insurance.  Make reviewing property taxes a part of your annual home care duties.  You can check to see if you are over-taxed relative to other homeowners at Cutmytaxes There is no cost and reviewing the fairness of your property taxes takes just a few minutes
2. As a bare minimum, protest property taxes in the years when the Cook County Assessor does a major reassessment.  Homes are reassessed every three years in Cook County.
3. In years between a major reassessment, check your valuation for both unequal appraisal and market value. You can check unequal appraisal at Cutmytaxes and check market value by reviewing comparable sales.
4. Check the Cook County Assessors website to determine if they have overstated the quantity or quality of improvements at your home.  For example, when I bought my home, the assessor had it listed at 1,700 square feet, but the actual size was 1,450 square feet.  After I notified the assessor, they corrected the size, and this simple one-time action has reduced my property taxes by 10 to 15% annually for the last 34 years.
5. Be proactive in property tax reduction.  For many homeowners, property taxes are simply a part of the monthly mortgage payment.  If homeowners had to write a check annually for property taxes, most would be keener on understanding and reducing property taxes.  By being proactive, you can likely reduce your property taxes by 5 to 10% annually for your home.
6. The benefit of a protest in the reassessment year generally extends to the next two years with no further action.  However, even if your home is valued below market value after the first-year appeal, there is still an opportunity to appeal on unequal appraisal.  The Cook County Assessor values 1,800,000 properties.  The challenge of consistently valuing 1,800,000 properties in Cook County provides opportunity for homeowners to appeal on unequal appraisal.