Your township assessor does not set your assessment and does not decide your appeal. The Cook County Assessor does both. The township assessor's office in Wheeling, Worth, Palatine, Orland, Proviso and the other suburban townships is a local office that helps residents with exemption forms, property-record questions and appeal paperwork. If a 2026 assessment notice sent you looking for your township assessor, the appeal itself is filed with the Cook County Assessor, and after that with the Cook County Board of Review.
Who does what
| Office | What it does | Does it decide your appeal? |
|---|---|---|
| Cook County Assessor | Values every property in the county, mails the assessment notices, and hears the first appeal, township by township | Yes: the first appeal, filed online by your township's deadline |
| Cook County Board of Review | Reviews the Assessor's values after the Assessor certifies each township | Yes: the second appeal, in the Board's own window for your township |
| Township assessor (suburban townships) | A local elected office: help with exemption applications, property records and appeal paperwork | No. It can help you prepare a filing; the county offices decide it |
The City of Chicago's townships (Lake, Hyde Park, West and the others) are assessment districts only; there is no township assessor's office there, and city owners deal with the Cook County Assessor directly.
The fall's 2026 Assessor windows
| Township | This year | Assessor window | 2026 notice vs 2025 final value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Calumet | reassessed 2026 | August 20 – October 2, 2026 | +9.1% median (5,269 homes) |
| Hyde Park | Chicago | August 26 – October 8, 2026 | +0.0% median (82,279 homes) |
| Leyden | reassessed 2025 | August 31 – October 14, 2026 | +0.0% median (28,663 homes) |
| Worth | reassessed 2026 | September 1 – October 15, 2026 | +22.2% median (57,017 homes) |
| Wheeling | reassessed 2025 | September 9 – October 22, 2026 | +0.0% median (55,760 homes) |
| Proviso | reassessed 2026 | September 14 – October 27, 2026 | +19.0% median (47,544 homes) |
| Lake | Chicago | September 16 – October 29, 2026 | +0.0% median (150,241 homes) |
| Palatine | reassessed 2025 | September 22 – November 4, 2026 | +0.0% median (40,029 homes) |
| Orland | reassessed 2026 | September 24 – November 6, 2026 | +19.9% median (37,567 homes) |
| Jefferson | Chicago | September 29 – November 12, 2026 | not yet measured |
| Schaumburg | reassessed 2025 | October 6 – November 19, 2026 | not yet measured |
| Thornton | reassessed 2026 | October 8 – November 23, 2026 | not yet measured |
Residential (Class 2) homes; "2025 final" is the Board of Review value. Windows from the Assessor's published calendar; the Board of Review window for each township follows after the Assessor certifies it. See every township's current dates.
Palatine and Wheeling: no reassessment, still appealable
Palatine and Wheeling were reassessed in 2025, so their 2026 notices carry essentially last year's value: a median change of 0.0% across 40,029 Palatine homes and 0.0% across 55,760 in Wheeling. An unchanged value is not a correct value. You can appeal every year, and the argument is the same one that wins in a reassessment year: your home's assessed value per square foot is higher than comparable homes around it.
How to file, whichever township you are in
- Find your township's deadline in the table above or on your notice.
- Compare your home with similar homes nearby. Our free property check pulls the comparables from the county's own data and shows the gap.
- File online with the Cook County Assessor before the deadline, attaching the comparables. Your township assessor's office can help with the forms; the filing goes to the county.
- File again at the Board of Review when your township's Board window opens. The two appeals are independent.
We are a Cook County property tax law firm in Palos Heights: attorney and CPA. Our fee is 25% of the first year's savings, nothing if there is no reduction. Enter your address to see where your home stands.
