Cook County homeowners are again facing a sharper increase in property taxes this year than businesses, the Office of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas announced Monday.
According to Pappas’ latest bill analysis, local governments countywide are seeking $743.8 million in new taxes — bringing the total that property owners must pay to more than $19.9 billion, or an increase of about 3.9%.
The annual regional rate of inflation is only 3.1%, Pappas’ office said
In the past 30 years, tax increases have pushed up the total tab for property taxes by $12.9 billion, or 184%, Pappas’ office said.
This is all the result of local governments such as cities, villages, park districts, school districts, and Cook County itself keeping on asking for more money and placing the burden on property owners, Pappas’ office said.
This year, homeowners are paying 80% of the value of the tax increase, or $593.4 million, Pappas’ office said. Owners of commercial buildings, industrial facilities, multi-unit buildings, and vacant land are picking up the rest, Pappas’ office said.
This is the fifth year in a row that the increased tax burden has fallen mostly on homeowners, as commercial property values have declined or grown at a much smaller pace than those for homes, Pappas’ office said.
Pappas called for local governments to control spending, and for people to get out to vote.
“Local governments need to learn to do more with less, particularly in these precarious economic times,” Pappas said in a news release. “And taxpayers need to vote. Residential taxes in the north and northwest suburbs increased at pace more than triple that of the inflation rate, in part because of recent tax-hike referendums approved in off-year elections by an average of one in five eligible voters.”
The latest round of property tax bills will be in mailboxes on Sept. 1 and are due Oct. 1.
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