If you own property in Berwyn, Cicero, Elk Grove, Lakeview, Maine, or Palos and want the Cook County Board of Review to examine your 2026 assessment, file by **Tuesday, September 29, 2026**. The Group 2 window opened Monday, August 31, and runs for 30 days. This is the time to pull up your PIN, read the county’s estimated market value, and decide whether your evidence supports an appeal. Waiting for the next tax bill puts the decision on the wrong side of the calendar.
Quick Answer
If the PIN is in Berwyn, Cicero, Elk Grove, Lakeview, Maine, or Palos, the Cook County Board of Review window closes Tuesday, September 29, 2026. That is a Board date. The Assessor runs a separate clock. Filing with one office does not save the other.
September 29 belongs to the Board of Review. The Cook County Assessor runs a separate appeal clock.
Those two clocks are easy to blur because both offices review assessments and organize filing periods by township. The Assessor establishes values and hears the first level of appeals. The Board provides another county-level review, using its own dates and deadlines. An owner may file with the Board even without filing an earlier appeal with the Assessor. An expired Assessor window may therefore leave an open Board window, including the one now running for Group 2.
This changes the question an owner should ask. “Did I miss the appeal deadline?” assumes there was only one. The answer depends on which office’s window has closed and whether the other remains open. A Reassessment Notice and its last-file date belong to the Assessor’s process. The Assessor says that filing period is typically 30 days after the notice; use the date printed on it. September 29 is the Board deadline for these six townships. One date does not cancel or extend the other, so the office named on the calendar matters as much as the date itself.
The 2026 reassessment map adds another source of confusion. This is the general reassessment year for Cook County’s south and west suburbs. Chicago and the north suburbs are not undergoing a general reassessment this year, apart from permit, division, or special changes. Yet reassessment geography does not erase the annual appeal calendar. A township outside the general reassessment area can still open for appeals. The safest reference is the office whose review you are seeking: the Assessor’s calendar for an Assessor appeal, and the Board’s calendar for a Board appeal.
The Board’s 2026 season opened Monday, July 27. For owners filing without an attorney, pre-filing began Monday, July 20 and ends when the township opens. Group 2 crossed that line on August 31, so its regular 30-day Board window is now the controlling period. The county filing fee is **$0**. That figure means only that the Board charges no government filing fee; it is not a professional fee, a lawyer’s fee, or a Censum fee.
The next question is what the appeal is actually about. In the Board’s online filing flow, choose **Property Over-Assessed** from the Type of Appeal drop-down. That label keeps the filing focused on the value under review. The Illinois Department of Revenue puts the rule in plain language: you appeal the assessed value of the property, not the tax bill. Tax rates are outside the assessment appeal itself, and once the bill arrives, it is generally too late to appeal that year’s assessment.
For an owner, the useful starting points are the property’s recorded characteristics and its estimated market value. Does the record describe the property accurately? Is the county’s estimate significantly above what the property could sell for in the current market? Those questions lead toward evidence the reviewing office can use.
The calendar pressure is not an estimate of your chances. It is an operating fact in a high-volume system. The Board processed a record **290,533 appeals in tax year 2025**. That is county volume, not a Censum win rate. The Board’s annual report separately gives **273,924 appeals for tax year 2024** and **578,057 PINs** appealed that year. One appeal can cover more than one PIN. Those tax year 2024 figures should not be merged with 290,533. Staggered township windows let the Board receive that volume in defined periods, and they make the township filing deadline more useful than a vague reminder to “appeal sometime this year.” For Group 2, the defined period ends September 29.
Filing by that date will not change the second-installment bill due October 1, 2026. According to the Board’s public filing guide, a decision generally arrives **8–16 weeks after the township’s filing deadline** and is reflected in the following year’s tax bill. The appeal calendar and the bill calendar move at different speeds. A current filing addresses the assessment that feeds a later bill; it does not rewrite the bill already about to come due. If the PIN sits outside those six townships, use the Board’s live dates page rather than Group 2’s deadline.
Sources
- Cook County Assessor, Assessment & Appeal Calendar
- Cook County Assessor, Overview of How Appeals Work
- Cook County Board of Review, Group 2 announcement
- Cook County Board of Review, Dates and Deadlines
- Cook County Board of Review, How to File an Appeal Online
- Cook County Board of Review, Tax Year 2024 Annual Report
- Illinois Department of Revenue, Assessment Appeals
- Cook County Treasurer, Important Dates
- Censum FAQ
Sources accessed 2026-09-02.
FAQ
When does Group 2 close at the Board of Review?
Tuesday, September 29, 2026, for Berwyn, Cicero, Elk Grove, Lakeview, Maine, and Palos. The group opened Monday, August 31, 2026. Other townships have their own Board windows; use the Board’s live dates page.
Is the Assessor deadline the same as the Board deadline?
No. A Reassessment Notice last-file date belongs to the Assessor. September 29 is the Board deadline for those six townships. One date does not cancel or extend the other.
Does a Board filing change the October 1, 2026 bill?
No. The Board says a decision generally arrives 8–16 weeks after the township deadline and is reflected on next year’s tax bill. Pay the tax year 2025 second installment due Thursday, October 1, 2026 anyway.
Does Censum file the appeal for me?
No. Censum LLC is a data and analytics company, not a law firm and not a tax advisor. You file your own appeal.
Next step
Look up your PIN or address to confirm the township and whether the Board window is still open. County officials decide assessments and appeal outcomes.
Censum LLC is a data and analytics company, not a law firm and not a tax advisor. You file your own appeal. Censum is independent and is not affiliated with Cook County or any government agency.