Cook County Property Tax Hikes: Impact on Renters

An often overlooked impact of Rahm Emanuel’s combined $838 million property tax hikes over the past year is the impact it’s having on renters.

How can apartment building owners relieve the financial pressure without increasing rents that drive out renters, particularly in the face of additional property tax increases looming on the horizon? There is only one thing that can be done…

Renters Bearing the Burden

As expected, apartment building owners are passing along property tax increases to renters in order to cover their mortgages and other expenses. Increased rents threaten to push working class families out of diverse neighborhoods.

As reported by the Chicago Sun-Times: “Manolita Huber is a classic example. She and her sister own and manage a two-flat in North Park that they hope to pass on to their children.”

“’With the mayor’s property tax increase, our property taxes have skyrocketed by nearly $700 since my last payment,’ Huber said. ‘As a result, we will have to raise our tenants’ monthly rents in order to make our mortgage payment. This is not something that we want to do. We care about the community and understand the renters’ struggle, too. But, we have to do it in order to compensate for this tax increase…'”

While there may be enough demand for some of these new apartment vacancies from higher income earners as part of re-gentrification, there may not be enough.

Rahm’s Renter Relief Plan

To counter the burden placed on renters, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has come up with a renter relief plan. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, “The mayor’s plan calls for roughly 155,000 households to be eligible for a $150 property tax rebate — with senior citizens getting $100 more… A funding source for Emanuel’s plan has not yet been identified…”

Without a funding source, this plan is unlikely to materialize as Rahm’s low income homeowner property relief plan promised as part of the initial $588 million property tax increase but which was later shot down in Springfield.

What Apartment Building Owners Can Do

As with homeowners, the only relief apartment building owners have is to appeal your property taxes, both at the Cook County Assessor and the Board of Review – every year. We’ve saved many apartment building owners $1,000 to $2,000 per year or more.

To find out how much you could save, click the button below.

Get your free property tax reduction estimate