20 November 2025
Cook County modifies Class L property tax incentive program to allow renewals
The Cook County Board of Commissioners recently approved changes to the Class L property tax incentive program to allow the incentive to be renewed and extended from 12 years to up to 22 years.
The Class L incentive is designed to encourage rehabilitation of historic buildings by providing more favorable property tax treatment in the form of a reduced assessment level.
While non-residential buildings in Cook County are ordinarily assessed at 25 percent of fair market value for property tax purposes, a building that has been granted the Class L incentive would be assessed at a lower level for a period 12 years: 10 percent of fair market value for the first 10 years; 15 percent of fair market value in the 11th year; and 20 percent in the 12th year.
While other Cook County property tax incentive programs allow the incentive term to be renewed and extended, the Class L program has not authorized renewals since 2010.
Renewing the Class L incentive would allow a building to continue to be assessed at 10 percent of fair market value for up to 10 additional years, for a total incentive period of 22 years.
Buildings that are currently subject to the Class L incentive could request a renewal in the 10th, 11th, or 12th year of the incentive. The County’s changes also allow buildings with recently expired incentive terms to seek renewal.
For more information about these changes, contact any members of the Chicago Land Use Team:
