More Assessors Should Follow Cook County’s Online Initiatives

In the November 2022 general election, Fritz Kaegi won his second term as the Cook County Assessor with a striking 81.9% — the highest percentage of any Illinois county-level race. The people have spoken: Kaegi must be doing something right.

Kaegi’s high public approval can partly be attributed to his focus on expanding digital accessibility. In 2021, the Cook County Assessor’s Office (CCAO) was recognized by the National Association of Counties for its work in transforming their paper-driven operations onto “more user-friendly digital platforms.” This transformation constituted a substantial win for the office — the 3rd largest assessment jurisdiction in the nation –as it was the first time in the CCAO’s history that applications for both property tax exemptions and assessment appeals could be fully conducted online.

The public sector typically lags behind on technological updates and providing user-friendly digital access, and local assessors are no exception. Across Illinois, the majority of county assessors have websites with outdated design qualities that are both unsightly and hard to navigate.

DuPage County, for example, is the second-most populous county in Illinois after Cook County, but it still employs a paper system for all appeals and exemptions. Unlike Cook County, DuPage does not have an online portal where homeowners can see which forms they have submitted and which exemptions or appeals they have been granted. With widespread public access to the internet, the requirement to operate with hard copiers of paperwork imposes unnecessary costs, making for a process that is more onerous, time-consuming, and resource-draining.

One county outside of Illinois that’s been a leader in digitizing the Assessor’s Office is Maricopa County in Arizona, the fourth most populous county in the nation. Their Digital First initiative from 2020 focused on constituent convenience and streamlined efficiency. Currently, Maricopa is expanding its use of AI technology for automated processing, and migrating their operations to a more modern technology platform called Assessment Analyst Geographic Assisted Mass Appraisal.

As with Maricopa’s assessment office, 2020 was a big technological year for the Cook County Assessors, too, as their own digital transition launched. The switch to digital processing was especially timely with the onset of Illinois’ Stay at Home order for Covid-19. In addition to offering appeals and assessments online, the CCAO also leaned on their virtual platforms to spread educational content and inequity awareness.

Across various social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Medium), the CCAO released 100+ informational videos and hosted over 250 events (both in-person and virtual) for township-specific property tax assistance, housing resource fairs, property tax exemption workshops, how to file online appeals, and more. Their videos have garnered hundreds, and often thousands, of online views — a decent marker of their usefulness.

By demystifying the assessment and appeals process, residents and homeowners are better equipped to challenge inaccurate assessments and navigate the appeals process with more confidence – and not just with more confidence, but also with less cost. Property tax appeals in Cook County have traditionally been the purview of property tax lawyers, many of whom are politically connected. But with the technological upgrades, it has become much easier for a property owner to undertake an appeal without legal counsel. The accessibility of the necessary information and the provision of step-by-step walkthroughs get people one step closer to exerting their own agency, while weakening the reliance on expensive property tax lawyers, who have benefited from people not knowing how to navigate the appeals system.

CCAO’s community engagement and efforts to provide user-friendly resources both online and in-person constitute a huge change to how constituents can engage with the property tax system. More of this is needed, especially in other counties that still rely on paper systems. Although the switch to digitizing operations is a massive undertaking for an assessment office, the Cook County example indicates that it is a worthwhile investment for it property owners — and can benefit assessors, too, when it is time for their re-election.

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The Public Policy Studies major at the University of Chicago attracts scores of excellent undergraduate students. All of these students take part in a capstone experience in their senior year. A new option for the capstone experience is the Policy Project Seminar, a one-quarter course devoted to honing policy analysis and communication skills. The theme adopted for the inaugural Autumn 2022 Project Seminar was “Chicago Through a Policy Lens.” The Chicago Policy Review is pleased to present this op-ed as part of our “Outside Voices” series.