CHICAGO, June 27,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Homeowners in many south and
southwest suburbs will have to pay a lot more in property taxes as
the median tax bill jumped a record 19.9% in the region, according
to an analysis released today by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.
The biggest increases in homeowners' tax bills occurred in 15
south suburbs where taxes soared 30% or more. Of those 15 suburbs,
13 have mostly Black populations. In two towns, Dixmoor and Phoenix, the median tax bill more than
doubled.
"Many homeowners are going to be shocked and angry when they get
their bills," Pappas said. "South suburban homeowners already pay
some of the highest property taxes in the county, and these
increases will make paying those bills even more difficult."
A research team created by Pappas released its Tax Year 2023
Bill Analysis, a detailed examination of nearly 1.8 million bills
to be mailed to property owners July
2 and due a month later on Aug.
1.
This year's Second Installment bills include a new feature,
"Where Your Money Goes," that breaks down the amounts of money
billed by each taxing district and shows whether taxes went up or
down.
Among key findings of the analysis:
- Across Cook County, property
taxes rose about $706 million,
climbing from $17.6 billion to
$18.3 billion. Homeowners are
shouldering an extra $611 million, or
nearly 86% of this year's increase, while commercial properties owe
an extra $102.9 million and taxes on
vacant land dropped by $7.8
million.
- In the south and southwest suburbs, where all properties were
reassessed, taxes rose a total of $265.4
million. The median south suburban residential tax bill
increased by 19.9%, the largest percentage increase in at least 29
years, according to Treasurer's data. Homeowners bore the brunt of
the increase as their taxes rose $396.8
million while taxes on commercial properties dropped by
$121.6 million.
- In the north and northwest suburbs, taxes rose $213.7 million from $4.06
billion to $4.27 billion.
Residential taxes increased $109.8
million while taxes on commercial properties increased
$103.1 million.
- In Chicago, taxes increased by
a modest 2.6%, largely because of an increase in the Chicago Public Schools tax levy and bill
increases in many tax increment finance districts. In the north and
northwest suburbs, overall taxes rose by 4%, with slightly bigger
percentage increases for businesses than homeowners.
Homeowners in the south and southwest suburbs are being hit hard
because new assessment shifted 4% of the overall tax burden from
businesses onto them. The financial shift was caused by elimination
of the 10% COVID-19 assessment reduction enacted in 2020, higher
home selling prices and the success businesses had appealing their
assessments at the Board of Review, which handles appeals of
valuations made by the Assessor's Office.
Particularly hard hit were homeowners in Park Forest, where the median residential bill
rose by 56% to $7,152. In
Dixmoor, the median bill increased
by 122%, to $1,950. And in
Phoenix, where nearly all of the
village is in a tax increment finance district, the median bill
shot up by 107% to $1,744.
Nearly 4,200 south and southwest suburban homeowners who paid no
taxes last year will get bills this year. That's because the value
of their exemptions no longer exceeds the higher assessed values of
their homes. The median for those bills was $1,115.
Across the county, more than 1.3 million homeowners must pay
more in property taxes, while about 251,600 were billed less. Taxes
for more than 88,000 commercial properties increased, while nearly
28,000 went down.
State law allows school districts to hike taxes by the prior
year's increase in the Consumer Price Index, or 5%, whichever is
less. Because the CPI increased by 6.5% in 2022, school districts
were allowed a 5% increase. But the overall percentage increase was
higher, partly due to a provision called recapture.
Recapture is a 2021 provision in the Illinois tax code that allows school districts
and many local governments to recover money refunded to property
owners who successfully appealed their taxes the previous year.
Recapture led to an additional $136.3
million being tacked onto bills this year. That's
$51.9 million less than was added to
property owners' bills last year.
Significant increases in the amount of money the city of
Chicago and Chicago Public Schools said they needed to
operate, coupled with recapture and higher tax increment financing
district bills, boosted the overall property tax burden in
Chicago by $221.8 million. That broke down as a $116.6 million increase on commercial properties
and a $103.9 million increase on
residential properties.
The analysis is the latest addition to the Pappas Studies, a
series of examinations of the complex property tax system available
at cookcountytreasurer.com.
Property owners who don't want to wait for their bills to arrive
in the mail can pay their taxes online now at
cookcountytreasurer.com. Partial payments are accepted.
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SOURCE Cook County Treasurer Maria
Pappas