By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
It’s been the go-to tax in Illinois for decades. Property tax bills have been rising far faster than incomes for at least three decades, as we recently testified to a House Revenue and Finance Committee, and that’s left Illinoisans trapped paying the highest property tax rates in the nation. Those high taxes are a big contributor to Illinois’ continuing dysfunction, and yet politicians do nothing about it.
For a long time, the pain was felt more outside Chicago than in the city. Mayor Richard M. Daley knew to avoid the hated property tax, so he favored all kinds of other taxes and fees – a nickel and dime approach – to fund the city. But beginning with Mayor Rahm Emanuel, property taxes in the last decade have grown a whopping 3.5 times more than inflation. And that’s got Chicagoans livid and most aldermen finally pushing back.
Property taxes raised by the city proper, now totaling nearly $1.8 billion, are up 105% from 2014 to 2024. Chicago Public Schools has raised property taxes for itself by 74% in the decade. They totaled more than 3.7 billion in 2024.
But the biggest percentage increase comes for property taxes sucked up by Chicago TIFs. A decade ago, Chicagoans paid about $370 million in property taxes into the development fund that many see as nothing more than a slush fund for the mayor. Now those Chicago TIFs take in about $1.4 billion yearly, up 266% compared to 2014.
In all, city of Chicago and CPS property tax revenues are up 103%, 3.5 times the 29% inflation over the same time period. (Chicagoans pay even more property taxes for its parks, its share of Cook County government and several other governments, but the data below covers the overwhelming majority of taxes paid).
Chicago aldermen are finally defending their constituents against ever-higher higher property taxes.
“Taxpayers in Chicago are wiped out,” Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward) recently said in a letter sent by 17 alders to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
“We want to do cuts first, and government efficiencies, and then we’ll talk about revenue to fill whatever the residual gap is,” joined in Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd Ward).
They’ve even gone so far as to call for major budget cuts. By the billions. “Chicago alders to mayor: Cut municipal spending to pre-pandemic levels” reads a recent WGN piece. The proposed budget for 2025 is around $16.6 billion. In 2019, before the pandemic, the city budget was just $10.7 billion.
The alders who signed a letter calling for those cuts include Hopkins, Reilly, Ald. Anthony Beale (9th Ward), Ald. Peter Chico (10th Ward), Ald. Marty Quinn (13th Ward), Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th Ward), Ald. Derrick Curtis (18th Ward), Ald. Silvana Tabares (23rd Ward), Ald. Monique Scott (24th Ward), Ald. Felix Cardona (31st Ward), Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd Ward), Ald. Gilbert Villegas (36th Ward), Ald. Anthony Napolitano (41st Ward), Ald. James Gardiner (45th Ward), and Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th Ward).
We won’t get too excited for now. But it’s a start to broader awakening.
Audio and summary 
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
“Chicago property taxes rise 3.5 times faster than inflation in last decade.” This is another of so very many examples of mismanagement of taxpayer funds in Chicago and/or Illinois. As many commenters noted, it seems the only way not to be abused by the mismanagement machine is to move out of Illinois.
Chicagoans like it. That’s why they vote for it like it’s their job. Keep raising those real estate taxes.
Always about Chicago property taxes never about the collar counties that get hammered year after year.
Show up to your local school board elections. School boards are over half your property tax bill. The communists that run your local schools – and they are commies, no doubt – run in elections with 10-20% turnout and they receive 60% of that vote. It’s several hundred to several thousand hard core progressives that vote every municipal election that make your school board ‘progressive’ and progressive ALWAYS means higher taxes.
True but property values also have risen substantially over the same timeframe. In many cases much more than 3 1/2 times. In my old Lincoln Square neighborhood 2 flats were valued at $140K in early 1990’s now well over $700K most likely due to that taxes were 1% of value but commercial and industrial rates were higher. Now in the same area there are new homes at $1.375M and up but taxes are approaching 2% of value but still less than Rockford and Belvidere at 3% and over. Just check out zip code for 60625 and search properties from high… Read more »
The voters had a choice, and they consistently chose the party that wastes vast amounts of money.
The issue isn’t that taxes are out of control. The issue is why voters choose the insanity.