Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Tax Assessment topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Board grants abatement lowering assessed value of Superior National Golf Course
Summary
Following public comment and staff analysis, the board approved an EDA-requested abatement reducing the assessed value of the Superior National Golf Course to reflect deed restrictions and income potential; tax estimates drop from $85,647 to $17,843 under the abatement.
The Cook County Board on Jan. 27 approved an assessor-recommended abatement of the 2025 assessed value for the Superior National Golf Course after hearing public questions and an assessor presentation explaining the valuation approach.
An item submitted by the EDA asked the county to consider an abatement application after marketing activity showed a contract offer of $1,850,000. The assessor explained the county’s land-value tables and neighborhood classifications had previously produced a ‘highest and best use’ valuation of roughly $9.7 million (driven by adjacent high-value lots), but that deed restrictions on the golf course limit its legal use and therefore its market value.
The assessor said the $1,850,000 contract price included intangible and personal property (equipment, manuals and other "blue sky" items) and that, after adjusting the land neighborhood and accounting for the deed restriction and the golf-course income potential, the abated tax calculation yields an estimated tax of $17,843 compared with $85,647 if unabated. He told the board that the Department of Revenue expects assessors to track highest-and-best-use values but that when deed restrictions exist assessors must deviate and value the property according to its legal use.
Public comment (read for the record) asked who valued the land at $1,850,000 versus $9.7 million and raised questions about the sale price and acreage; the assessor addressed those points during the item. Commissioners discussed whether the EDA should have raised deed restrictions earlier but agreed the abatement appropriately responds to the property's legal constraints and compliance obligations.
A motion to approve the abatement passed unanimously.
