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Where Do Cook County Property Taxes Go?

The second installment of property tax bills are out now. Where does your money go?

Cook County Property Taxes from 2000-2010

Where do Cook County property taxes go?According to findings by The Heartland Institute, Cook County property tax collections rose from $7.89 to $11.69 billion (a 48% increase) from 2000 to 2010, which is twice the rate of inflation during that period. Property taxes levied by Cook County government remained flat, so here’s where the increases came from:

  • Suburban municipalities: 75% property tax increase
  • Taxing agencies located within the City of Chicago: 44% property tax increase
  • Metropolitan Water Reclamation District: 29% property tax increase
  • School districts: 58% property tax increase with 27 more than doubling their levies

Read more from The Heartland Institute

Cook County Property Taxes Today

Cook County Property Tax Bill ExampleEach property tax installment bill identifies exactly where your property taxes go. See an example Cook County property tax bill here.

Each property tax bill is different as it identifies spending in your township and also identifies your exemptions.

Here’s a link to the Cook County Treasurer’s website that allows you to see specific taxing districts.

Cook County Property Taxes in 2015 & Beyond

According to The Civic Federation, here’s what 2015’s property taxes are expected to pay for in 2015 (you will receive these bills in 2016):

  • City of Chicago – $862.9 million: 45% for debt service, 41% for pensions, 9% for the Chicago Public Library and 4% for City Colleges debt service
  • Chicago Public Schools – $2.2 billion: 93% for the general fund, 5% for the Workers and Unemployment Compensation Tort Immunity Fund, and 2% for Public Building Commission lease and debt service payments
  • Cook County – $741.6 million: 30% for the Bond and Interest Fund, 26% for The Public Safety Fund, 21% for the Health Enterprise Fund, 18% for the Pension Fund, and 4% for Corporate and Election Funds

Read more from The Civic Federation

Chicago Asking for More

According to an article in Crain’s, City of Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is expected to request an additional $328.6 million to fund the police and firefighter pension fund. A decrease from the state mandated contribution of $550 million. Even with the decreased contribution, 25-72% of this cost is expected to come from property tax increases. This equates to a 30% increase in your property tax bill starting next year.

Read the whole Crain’s article here

How to Minimize Your Property Tax Payments

If you want to avoid paying more than you have to and to ensure a fair assessment of your home’s value, you’ll want to appeal your property taxes taxes with both the Cook County Assessor’s office when your township’s appeal window is open as well as later in the year with the Cook County Board of Review.

Get your free property tax reduction estimate

Why Use a Service to Appeal Your Property Taxes

Property Tax Appeal Service | Cook CountyIf you’re a homeowner and you haven’t appealed your property taxes this year (or ever), you’re likely overpaying your county government by hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Third-party services exist to help you appeal your property taxes, but why use them when you could just do it yourself?

Experienced Reductions

The property tax system is complicated so it’s very difficult for homeowners and condo boards to successfully appeal their own taxes. It’s time consuming and identifying accurate comps is challenging on a good day. Most third party services offer many years of experience and high success rates. Though buyer beware: be sure to ask about what experience they actually have as some companies without much experience have recently entered the market.

No Up-Front Fees

Third-party property tax services almost always work on a contingency basis, so you pay nothing up front. You are only charged a percentage of the savings for the first year even though savings typically are realized over a 2-3 year period. As a result, third-party services are incentivized to get you the largest possible property tax reduction. If they try to charge you a fee up-front, know that there are alternative options out there which do not.

You Will Pay More If You Don’t Appeal

As we covered in this blog post, the government is going to generate revenues they need from property taxes no matter what, so it’s a zero sum game: if one homeowner has a reduction of $1,500, then others that do not appeal will need to make up the difference.

Go Local

Some companies have recently entered the market offering property tax appeal services nationwide. They lack experience and look more like an internet start-up. Who would you rather work with? A service based in California employing agents that are learning how to appeal property taxes with your account or an established partner that’s successfully provided tax relief for over 10,000 clients over the past 15 years where you live?

Contact us to learn more about appealing your property taxes

Cook County Property Taxes Increasing & 3 Hard Truths

Cook County Property Tax Increase 2015Cook County property tax bills are expected to be released on July 1, 2015. According to the Chicago Tribune, they’re expected to go up by $90 per home on average. Here’s how the increase stacks up based upon what township you’re located in:

  • Chicago: property taxes on a home with a market value of $199,000 will increase $90 from $3,237 in 2014 to $3,327
  • Northern Cook County suburbs: property taxes on homes with a market value of $263,000 will rise to about $6,544 from $6,389
  • Southern Cook County suburbs: property taxes will go down about $51 on average, so the bill on a $163,000 home will be about $4,850 this year from $4,901 in 2014
  • Individual bills in specific suburbs will vary according to Cook County Clerk David Orr
  • As always, a variety of homeowner tax exemptions are available

Three Hard Truths

Property taxes have not declined on every home in Southern Cook County. In the words of The Daily Southtown, “Property values declined in the south suburbs, but property tax rates went up and some of the poorest communities in the Southland continue to have the highest property tax rates in Cook County… The highest composite suburban property tax rate in all of Cook County… belongs to Ford Heights at 38.45%. The market value of an average home in that suburb is $26,500 and the average property tax paid is $1,894… The lowest suburban property tax rate is in Barrington, 7.1%… where the average home value is $320,000 and the average tax $5,735.”

Additionally, what’s more concerning to many is how Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel will plug the $1 billion budget Chicago Public School pension shortfall. Many expect further Cook County property tax increases next year.

Lastly, Cook County Board President Preckwinkle wants to increase the sales tax by 1% to 10.25%, making it one of the highest in the nation. New York City’s rate is 8.875% and San Francisco’s is 8.75%. Between increased property and sales taxes, the total tax burden in the Chicago metro area is becoming one of the highest in the country.

Property Tax Appeals

All of the above are even more reasons to appeal your property taxes. Doing so is the only way to ensure that you pay only your fair share and not a penny more. If you don’t appeal your property taxes, you’re probably paying more than you have to.

Contact us for a free, no obligation property tax appeal estimate

What Is a Property Tax Assessment?

What is a property tax assessment?Because what you pay in property taxes is usually in the thousands, it’s important to understand what a property tax assessment is and how to ensure that it’s fair.

Why You Pay Property Taxes

Counties use property taxes to fund local school districts, police and fire departments, water reclamation districts, libraries, park districts, forest preserves, mosquito abatement districts, etc.

Each year, the county determines the revenue they need to fund the budgets of all of the taxing bodies mentioned above. The county assessor determines the value of your home as of January 1st of the tax year. In Cook County, residential property is assessed at 10% of the value of your home. This is your property tax assessment. Learn more about how property taxes are assessed here.

What you owe in property taxes is calculated by taking your equalized assessed value and multiplying it by the tax rate determined by your county, minus exemptions. If you live in Cook County, see if you qualify for any tax exemptions here.

Paying a “Fair” Amount of Property Taxes on Time

As with paying income taxes, paying property taxes on time is important so that you do not incur penalties, fines and liens on your home – such as those who improperly claim a homeowner exemption and who are now being actively pursued by Cook County.

How do you know if your property taxes are assessed fairly or if you would be a strong candidate for a reduction? While you can conduct your own research and do it yourself, your best bet is often working with an experienced property tax appeal service.

Contact us to learn more about our property tax appeal service