IAR GAD Tom Joseph

In a win for homeowners and the real estate market, the city of Country Club Hills will no longer apply a $25 city sticker fee on each real estate “For Sale” sign.

County Club Hills was among a handful of municipalities in southern Cook County that required REALTORS® to buy and place a real estate sticker stamp on all “For Sale” signs before signs could be placed in a window or on the front lawn of a home for sale.

The Illinois Association of REALTORS® and local REALTOR® associations have long advocated against these punitive and unfair municipal fees. The village of Glenwood, Ill. rescinded its real estate sign fee about five years ago, but there are other municipalities that still have real estate sign fees in place.

REALTORS® oppose these sign fees and see them as another way that Home Rule communities can pass along another “tax” to taxpayers in the form of a mandatory municipal fee.

Tom Joseph, the IAR Local Government Affairs Director (GAD) representing the south suburban Cook County area, worked with local leaders on the issue and thanked them for deciding to eliminate the unnecessary fees.

“To the credit of Country Club Hills Mayor Dwight Welch, he viewed this as a hindrance that had a marginal financial incentive for the city. He and Glenwood Mayor Kerry Durkin want to promote real estate in their communities and after reviewing the numbers and everything else, they both agreed real estate sign fees did not make sense and were not needed anymore,” Joseph said.