November, 2016
Many developers and investors of commercial/industrial real estate in Cook County are unaware of a potential financial benefit available to those who have successfully rehabilitated environmentally-impacted sites and obtained regulatory closure, with the procurement of a “No Further Remediation” (NFR) letter. This benefit is known as the “Class C” real estate tax incentive.
The Class C provisions, passed in 2011, are intended to not only offer significant tax savings, but also reduce the overall costs of the assessments and ensure a fair market appraisal value for a property that has obtained an NFR letter through the Illinois EPA’s Site Remediation Program (SRP). To be eligible, remediation costs, including those associated with subsurface testing, engineering/oversight and legal fees, must have totaled at least $100,000 or, alternatively, 25% of the real estate’s market value. Owners must also apply within one year of obtaining the NFR letter to be considered eligible.
With Class C status, properties will be assessed at 10% of their market value for the first ten years of eligibility, with increases of 5% over the next two years and options for renewals. This can enable property owners to realize considerable tax savings when compared to the normal assessed rate of roughly 25% of market value. For instance, an owner of a typical piece of Chicago industrial real estate valued at $1 million could save over $200,000 in taxes over the initial ten-year period.
Pioneer has collectively assessed over 20,000 sites since its inception in 1989, and we are proud to have tallied over 560 NFR letters for our clients — number one in the State of Illinois — with more being recorded every month. To find out if we can obtain an NFR letter for your site, call us at (773) 722-9200 or email at info@pioneerEES.com. For more information about Class C Tax Incentives, please visit the official bulletin at the Cook County Assessor website at http://www.cookcountyassessor.com/assets/forms/clscb.pdf.