Cook County property owners are opening their tax bills this week and finding staggering increases. Unfortunately, no one can—or should—be surprised. We can demand reform and relief though.
For years, we have warned about the persistent over-reliance on property taxes to fund an ever-expanding list of municipal programming.
The current draft of the Chicago city budget might avoid a property tax increase for next year, but remember it was only 11 months ago that we were fighting a proposed $300 million hike. And it has been less than two years since the failed effort to impose a citywide real estate transfer tax increase that would have locked in commercial vacancies for years to come.
At the same time, legislation now pending in Springfield would further increase pension benefits—guaranteeing even more pressure for dramatic future local property tax hikes.
These tax bills are evidence your suburban Cook County city leaders have been busy with their own cost increases.
Illinois has more taxing districts than any other state in the nation, and property owners can see that directly reflected in their bills.
As we have said repeatedly: the real estate tax funding well has run dry.
The newly released bills are a slap in the face to residents already stretched thin by rising costs for everything from utilities to groceries. And the burden will not fall on homeowners alone—renters will feel it too. These increases threaten to worsen housing instability at a moment when Illinois ranks second-to-last in post-pandemic housing supply recovery.
Cook County residents should unite in demanding reform and accountability. The system is broken, but there are real, achievable solutions:
- Consolidation and elimination of municipal taxing districts
- Limits on relying on real estate taxes to fund pension obligations
- A meaningful property tax limitation law—without loopholes or exceptions
- Significant cost reductions in municipal budgets
It is time for our mayors, city councils, and county leaders to listen to the outrage these tax bills have generated and commit to real reform and real relief.
