STARA Update 2024
July 2024 update from the Cook County Board of Review on the Simplified Tax Appeal and Relief Act (STARA) program and outcomes.
COOK COUNTY BOARD OF REVIEW
118 NORTH CLARK STREET ROOM 601, COUNTY BUILDING CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60602 TEL: (312) 603-5542 FAX: (312) 603-3479
SAMANTHA STEELE CHAIRWOMAN GEORGE A. CARDENAS COMMISSIONER LARRY R. ROGERS, JR. COMMISSIONER
July 31, 2024
Standardized Techniques for Adjudicating Residential Appeals (STARA) Update for Tax Year 2024
This memo shares changes to STARA for Tax Year 2024 to help BOR Analysts know what to expect from the upcoming cycle.
1. Expanding to include prorated and class 211 properties
a. There are now more than 1,000,000 pins eligible for inclusion in STARA b. 95% of pins passed appeal simulation
2. Automatic inclusion of comparables from BOR Portal
a. STARA is now integrated with the new comparable fields on the BOR Portal. These comparables will now be automatically included in our analysis eliminating the need for STARA analysts to enter comparables on most pro-se files.
3. Aligning with OnBase workflow
a. Previously, other analysts were sometimes unable to agree with the STARA decision due to differences in how the building AV / building square foot is rounded. These rounding differences should now be corrected.
4. Simplification of analyst notes
a. The Uniformity Valuation Model and No Change score methodology have been removed to make STARA notes more in line with traditional BOR notes.
5. Removal of Attorney Requested AV Limitations
a. Attorney evidence will be analyzed and processed as in the past, but the value of the Attorney Requested AV will no longer be directly included as a factor in issuing decisions.
Ongoing areas of interest
Below are ongoing areas of interest continuing from Tax Year 2023 or earlier:
1. Home Improvement Exemptions / 288s
a. The BOR has had extensive discussions on how to work HIE/288 properties. Until a new board-wide policy is determined, STARA analysts will work files with unfrozen AV and unfrozen characteristics.
2. Recent sale of subject property
a. Each district has different policies on how to treat recent sales of the subject property, especially if the sale is higher than the current assessed value. STARA follows D2 policy on these files where our analysts review recent sales on a case-by-case basis. Since the evaluation of assessment uniformity is separate from a sales analysis or a recent sale, D2 analysts (and STARA) may be more likely to grant changes on files with recent sales than D1 or D3 analysts.
STARA Principles and Overview
The STARA review principles will remain intact from Tax Year 2023. The evidence (from appellant) and the draft analysis (from STARA) is reviewed individually by an analyst. Each analyst:
- Reviews appeals for BOR rule compliance, including Attorney Authorization Forms
- Reviews all evidence, determines if evidence is uniformity comparable and enters comparable pins into STARA system for analysis
- Reviews and evaluates STARA generated uniformity comparable evidence