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Chicago Homeowners Face Property Tax Nightmare

Chicago Homeowners Face Property Tax Nightmare

Chicago area homeowners are facing a property tax refund nightmare as payments were delayed by months, and are now not due until December.

According to an April report from local PBS affiliate WTTW, this delay was not strategically planned like deadline delays during the pandemic -- which were intended to help those who had fallen behind on mortgage payments due to unemployment and other factors. 

Instead, this was the result of infighting between two Cook County officials who are responsible for determining property values in the county.

In 2021, new Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi used a different formula than his predecessor to determine property values in the region, which led to the internal disagreements. Cook County officials reassess these valuations every three years. 

Typically, property tax bills would have been mailed in June and July, with a due date of August 1. Now, per a new article from Axios Chicago, the second installment of the 2021 Cook County property taxes are not expected to be delivered until December 1, with a due date of December 31. 

The obvious problem here is that if property taxes are further delayed into 2023, or if there are issues with delivery, Chicagoland residents won't be allowed to write off their payments on their 2022 income taxes. 

Visit the official Cook County Assessor's Office website if you have questions.

Cook County, which includes Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, has a population of 5.17 million as of the 2020 United States census. The county is home to over 40% of all Illinois residents.

If you are interested in purchasing property at the Cook County tax sale, the event will take place on November 15 with over 55,000 properties on the docket.

What do you think about Chicago's property tax debacle?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

Rebekah's search engine optimization career began completely by accident as a college student. Over the course of her career so far, she has "grown up" with the SEO industry, from writing content while juggling classes to managing her own teams of writers and overseeing SEO strategy in subsequent roles. She is excited to bring her passion for high-quality content to CountingWorks, Inc.

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