In La Grange, the Reassessment Raises Values and Lowers Rates. Your Share of the Levy Moves the Bill.
October 15, 2026
October 15, 2026
Lyons Township High School District 204 wants 4.69% more property tax revenue for 2026. In the same memo, it projects that its tax rate will drop from about 2.08 to 1.83. Both numbers hold up. Lyons Township, which includes La Grange, was reassessed by the Cook County Assessor this year. When a whole township's values rise together, rates fall to absorb the increase and the levy still grows.
For anyone buying in La Grange this fall, that has a practical consequence. Your 2027 bill will depend mostly on how your home's new value compares with the homes around it, and on which taxing districts your parcel falls in. The headline percentage on the reassessment notice matters less than either.
The Assessor mailed Lyons Township reassessment notices on July 23, 2026. Owners had until September 3, 2026 to appeal to the Assessor. The Assessor's office says the south and west suburbs were last reassessed in 2023. Values certified in 2026 "will affect second-installment tax bills issued in 2027."
So when a La Grange listing shows tax history this October, those bills were calculated on the 2023-cycle values. A buyer closing this fall will get a second-installment bill next year built on a value the seller may have received only a few months ago. That value may still be under review.
It may still be under review because the Cook County Board of Review's 2026 schedule opened Lyons Township for filing on October 8, 2026. The window closes November 6, and the evidence deadline is November 16. Today is October 10, so the window is open now. The Assessor's figure on a seller's notice is the starting point for the 2027 bill, and it may not be the final number.
In its Lyons Township residential report, the Assessor puts its 2026 median estimate for single-family homes at $418,000. The 2025 median sale price was $462,000. For condos, the 2026 median estimate is $218,000 and the 2025 median sale price was $225,000. Assessor Fritz Kaegi explained why the two numbers differ when the values were released:
"It is important to understand that assessments in Cook County reflect market value over the last three years."
The Assessor does not publish an official percentage change for Lyons. An independent analysis by a Palos Heights tax-appeal firm compared final 2025 Board of Review values with the 2026 notices. It covered 38,177 Lyons residential parcels and found a median increase of 25.1%, with 96.9% of homes going up. Proviso Township came in at 19.0%. Westchester's bills carry Proviso Township taxing districts.
A 25% assessment increase does not mean a 25% higher tax bill. The same analysis describes the math. Assessed value is 10% of the Assessor's market-value estimate. That figure is multiplied by the state equalizer, which was 3.03 for 2025, then by the local tax rate, and then exemptions are subtracted. The taxing bodies set rates later, based on their levies. The Cook County Clerk describes the same mechanism. A district's rate is its levy divided by its equalized assessed value, so if values rise and the levy stays flat, the rate falls.
The number that matters is your home's increase compared with everyone else's. Take a hypothetical La Grange home that rose 25%, almost exactly the township median. That home holds about the same share of each district's levy as last year. A home that rose 35% takes a larger share. A home that rose 15% takes a smaller one. The two neighbors with very different notices could end up with similar bill changes, or with bills that move in opposite directions.
LTHS D204's levy memo, dated September 30, 2026, was reviewed at the October 5 Committee of the Whole meeting. It is the clearest public document showing how this works in La Grange.
| D204 figure | 2025 | 2026 proposal |
|---|---|---|
| Equalized assessed value, existing property | $4,459,225,121 | $5,128,962,873 estimated, up 15.02% |
| New property added to rolls | n/a | $110,000,000 estimated |
| Total levy, all funds | $91,561,093 extended | $95,856,633, up 4.69% |
| Capped funds | $88,418,942 extended | $92,753,759, up 4.90% |
| Total rate | 2.080182, per Cook County Clerk | 1.8321 projected |
Two details in the memo matter for owners. Under the tax cap, the district's revenue from existing property can grow only by the December 2025 CPI, which was 2.7%. That works out to about $2.39 million more. Within the capped funds, the memo shows new property as the source of any increase beyond that, which is why the district deliberately set its estimate high. Brian Stachacz, the district's Director of Business Services, wrote that the $110 million figure "is most likely an overly optimistic amount," and that it reflects the chance that a TIF in the Village of Countryside will return to the tax rolls. New property spreads the levy across more value, which affects every existing owner's share.
The memo also says some refunds the district pays out through court decisions, Property Tax Appeal Board rulings and Certificates of Error are added back to the next year's levy outside the cap. All property owners in the district pay for those. When one owner wins a reduction, part of it comes back as a slightly larger levy for everyone else.
The board plans to approve an estimated levy in November and the final levy in December, with a public hearing. The memo notes the hearing is held by practice even though an increase under 5% does not legally require one. The 1.8321 rate is a projection until the county finalizes the numbers.
The reassessment changes everyone's share. Location within La Grange changes the rates that share is multiplied by. In the Cook County Clerk's Tax Year 2025 rate report, released September 23, 2026, La Grange's average composite rate was 8.797545, up 4.92% from 8.385012. The Clerk labels this an average per parcel and notes that individual parcels differ depending on their combination of districts.
The largest difference within the village comes from the elementary school district:
| Taxing district, Tax Year 2025 | 2024 rate | 2025 rate | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| School District 102 | 3.642008 | 4.153197 | +14.04% |
| School District 105 | 3.424775 | 3.283011 | -4.14% |
| Village of La Grange | 0.926353 | 0.941148 | +1.6% |
| La Grange Park District | 0.422535 | 0.431609 | +2.15% |
The two districts' 2025 rates differ by about 0.87. District 105 serves the southern part of La Grange, along with Countryside and Hodgkins. Its boundaries are generally 47th Street on the north, East Avenue on the east, Brainard Avenue on the west and the Des Plaines River on the south. Because those boundaries are described as "generally," any specific address should be confirmed with the district.
The jump in D102's rate most likely comes from a vote. On April 1, 2025, District 102 voters approved $82 million in borrowing for building improvements, 3,098 votes to 1,488, according to Patch's report of the unofficial results. Before the vote, the district's January 2025 financial newsletter estimated the bonds would add 0.38 to the rate for 25 years, or about $532 a year for a home with a $500,000 market value. Bond payments are set amounts. As the reassessment raises D102's total assessed value, the rate needed to cover those payments should drop, though the dollar amount owed stays the same.
The research did not find proposed 2026 levy amounts yet from the Village of La Grange, District 102 or the Park District.
Where can La Grange owners get help reading a reassessment notice? Lyons Township Assessor Pat Hynes and his staff held evening sessions across the township after the notices went out, including one scheduled at La Grange Village Hall on August 17, according to the Desplaines Valley News.
How do appeals usually turn out in Lyons? The independent analysis says 36% of Lyons residential appeals at the Board of Review got a reduction in 2025. In the townships it reviewed, average cuts were 7% to 9% of assessed value. Under the Assessor's description, appeals can address incorrect property characteristics or a value that is significantly higher than the home would sell for.
Is Westchester on the same schedule? Proviso Township's notices went out September 14, 2026, and its Assessor appeal deadline is October 27, 2026. Those values also feed the second-installment bills issued in 2027.
If you're weighing a La Grange purchase or sale this fall, the parcel's tax history covers only the old values. Alejandro Trujillo can go through a specific address with you, including its 2026 notice, its taxing districts and the levy calendar, and compare the Assessor's estimate with an instant valuation of the home.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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