By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner
The first installment of Cook County’s 2023 tax bills are due on Friday, March 1. For many, it’ll be a repeat of the sticker shock they suffered last year.
Elk Grove Village property tax bills grew 24% in 2023. Des Plaines’ jumped 29%. Northlake, 37%. And homeowners in Melrose Park experienced a near 50% increase. Residents across the Northwest suburbs were hit with the largest tax hike in 30 years – a consequence of Cook County’s revaluation of property values. Overall, Cook County homeowners were hit with a 7.2% increase in their FY 2022 taxes (paid in 2023), the biggest hike in 16 years.
The big increases are further evidence that state and local politicians have no plan and no intent to deal with Illinois’ property tax problem. There’s no coordination, no solutions, no relief. Just more tax hikes from governments that, collectively, already impose the 2nd-highest property taxes in the nation.
Wirepoints analyzed the taxes paid in 2023 (2022 property tax data) released by the Cook County Treasurer late last year, and we’ve summarized the most important facts:
1. Property tax revenues across all local governments within Cook County grew 5.4% in 2022. Overall, property taxes owed to all governments rose to $17.6 billion in 2022, up from $16.7 billion the year before. That’s a 5.4% increase, the 2nd-biggest hike in 30 years.
Homes, not businesses, felt the biggest pinch. Multifamily properties experienced the largest overall tax increase at 7.5%, adding more pressure to affordability in the rental market. Residential taxes increased the 2nd-most, at 6.5%. And both commercial and industrial properties increased about 3.8%.
2. Median residential property tax bills grew 7.2% in 2022. Cook County homeowners experienced the largest increase in their tax bills in 16 years. That jump pushed the median bill tax bill to nearly $5,000, up from $4,600 the year before.
3. School district tax revenues grew the most. The government of Cook County itself charted the largest percentage levy increase in 2022, growing property taxes by 6.8%. That was followed by school districts and fire districts, both experiencing gains of 6% or higher. Park districts, community colleges, and townships all recorded increases greater than 5%.
On a dollar basis, school districts gained the most by far, with over $570 million in new revenues coming in.
School districts accounted for 59% of the entire 2022 tax revenues and were responsible for 73% of the entire $786 million levy increase. In other words, schools took an outsized chunk of the total tax hikes in the county. If residents are looking for which government to hold accountable, all they have to do is look at their neighborhood school.
Chicago Public Schools’ levy increase of $231 million was, obviously, the largest of any district. That was followed by Elgin CUSD 300’s increase of $15.8 million. Palatine’s CCSD 15 was next, its $15 million increase an 11% jump over last year. And Arlington Hts. SD 25’s $8.2 million increase was also an 11% jump over last year.
On a percentage basis, Winnetka’s SD 36 got the biggest increase. Its $7 million in new tax revenues was a 16% jump over 2021. Homewood SD 153 in the south suburbs and Palos CCSD 118 in the southwest also had their levies grow 16%.
In all, more than 40% of Cook County School districts had their levies grow by 6% or more in 2022.
4. Residents in North and Northwest suburban cities hit with the biggest tax hike in three decades. A vast majority of Cook County homeowners were hit with higher tax bills, but it was the North and Northwest suburbs that suffered the worst increases by far.
The median residential property tax bill there in 2023 grew nearly 16%, or $950, pushing the total bill over $7,000. That was the single biggest tax bill increase the area has experienced in the last 30 years.
In contrast, Chicagoans were hit with the smallest increase, with median taxes increasing by about $100, or 3%.
Residents in Glencoe saw the biggest dollar changes of all, with their tax bills rising more than $2,400. Winnetka homeowners saw their tax bills rise by 10%, by more than $2,000.
Less wealthy communities also suffered big increases. Residents in places like Schiller Park, Park Ridge and Des Plaines were all hit with a $1,400 tax bump.
On a percentage basis, homeowners in Melrose Park were the big losers, with their bills rising more than 46% to $6,909. That’s a $2,171 increase in one year.
Still an Outlier
Cook County’s latest tax hikes are just another reminder why Illinois is a tough place to own a home. On top of the nation’s 2nd-highest property taxes, the state’s property markets are some of the nation’s most at-risk of a downturn. And home value growth since 2000 has been the absolute worst in the country.
From young homeowners to retirees and all ages in between, property taxes continue to be one of the biggest pains to residents’ wallets. But there is no relief in sight. Since Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s tax force failed dismally in 2020, lawmakers haven’t made a peep about property tax reform.
And so the suffering continues.
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Illinois tax rates out-of-sync with those in neighboring states, most of the nation
- Pritzker’s Illinois: Nation’s worst state to own a home
- So much for Chicago Mayor Johnson’s promise of no property tax hikes
- 13 Illinois counties among the top 50 property markets nationwide most ‘at-risk’ of a downturn
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.
At this rate of tax-inflation, homeowners will soon be compelled to offer rooms for rent, opening their homes to relatives and strangers, all to pay the onerous real estate taxes. Government employees earn more on average than equivalent private-sector employee, particularly when pension and benefits are added to calculation. And government agencies continue to spend, spend, spend, without regard towards taxpayers stuck with the enormous bill. This reckless spending is not sustainable. Large swaths of south-side and west-side neighborhoods, as well as south suburbs, already have sizable tax-delinquencies accruing on both residential and commercial/industrial properties. There’s a separate post here… Read more »
Lakefront county in Wisconsin is likely run entirely by Republicans, even if a town here or there is Democrat, which explains the stable taxes. Below is a story of Whitewater, WI, a “Full Libtard” dopey college town (with a nice lake with likely 5,000 homes crammed onto it LOL). Whitewater is a ‘progressive’ sanctuary city, and is the hub for migrants in Wisconsin. Whitewater is now broke with a $400,000 deficit this year paying for migrant’s case. Despite being so liberal, Walworth County is extremely conservative (and where I’d love to live someday soon enough) and quite well run.
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/how-the-border-crisis-hit-a-small-wisconsin-town/
Far higher than the rate of inflation.
Services are down, taxes are up.
Much of this money is being sent out of state for pensioners.
First … realize Cook County property tax is paid in arrears – this year property tax for 2023 will be paid.
The first installment shouldn’t surprise anyone. Unless things have changed, it’s 55% of the previous year’s total property tax. So the 1st installment due March 1 is based on 2022 property taxes.
The real shock will be when the 2nd installment arrives later this year. Until then homeowners have no idea what LAST YEAR’s property taxes will be.
Very confusing.
You can easily get property tax relief by moving to Indiana.
The choice is simple so either move or pay up and enjoy financial ruin.
Johnson has a 20% approval rating. Amazingly, this escapes everybody but me, but we’ve magically got an entire comment section chanting in unison that we’ll never win, nobody is on our side, and to run away as fast as you can. Cui bono? LOL
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You have officially jumped the shark. Please enlighten all of us on how to overturn decades of corruption.I’ll hang up the phone and wait fro the answer.
Easy.
Defund the crooks.
By staying and choosing to live in Chicago you are funding, enabling and condoning the corruption.
No different than people who choose to remain in Russia and continue to pay taxes to the corrupt genocidal Kremlin.
Indy, like me, you faced reality and figured out the best way to fight back is to leave. It’s too bad Dave can’t bring himself to do the same because there are other cities/states that could benefit from someone like him trying to fight back.
I can’t believe a self labeled wimp is trying to give me advice on leadership! That’s rich!
Fine Dave. You stay where you are, and I’ll stay where I am. We can compare notes in 10 years to see who used the better judgement.
How did that strategy work out for American Indians?
Here’s an amazing idea! Get off the internet and go for a drive. Ask some Chicago or Cook County employees where the bodies are buried; I’ve done this many times and you’ll be amazed at what people will tell you. Look into it. Do some research. Submit some FOIA requests. A large amount of court and property records are online now! Working by yourself, you could easily identify and unravel some major scandals in your neighborhood. With a few friends, you could make a difference in your entire ward. With a team, perhaps you could change your city! If you… Read more »
You cannot face bankruptcy and homelessness soon enough. Then you will wise up and get a clue.
The migrant tents are waiting for you.
So, what? Every politician has a crap approval rating when times are tough, because that stat is based on a simple poll. Life bad? It’s the guy in charge’s fault. Easy. An approval rating is a rant at the water cooler about the boss. For the vast majority, that’s where it ends. Voters will answer the poll, then do nothing else. They will continue to vote the same way and get the same results. Activism takes effort. Effort that takes away from ekeing out a living.
How to remove your property from the tax roll. – Steve Emerson
There’s a legal term for this called “Allodial title”. When you buy a house you buy ‘fee simple’ mean it’s subject to local, state and federal taxes. Allodial means you have no superior landlord and you don’t own taxes to anyone for it. Interesting concept, goes back to the days when property could theoretically fall out of feudal title, then then owner had no superior landlord.
“To believe that the system they are using is legitimate, here is what you would have to believe. The people that created this government gave their public servants the power to kick them off their property, pull them out of their house, and sheriff-sale their property. Does that make any sense. No. That’s not the system that was set up, it’s just being abused that way.” – Alphonse Faggiolo
SAME HOUSE IN NC ……TAXES ARE FOR THE WHOLE YEAR WHAT I PAID FOR FIRST HALF AND I’M ON THE FREEZE…..PLUS THEY HAVE SOME LAND AND NICE WEATHER AND A FREE STATE!!
A lot of taxpayers didn’t or don’t understand why they are being clobbered by taxes. Corruption is expensive. The article “The Illinois Pension Scam: Unconstitutional and Corrupt” by John Biver summed it up nicely. There’s also the book The Illinois Pension Scam by Bill Zettler. Over the years this unsustainable and unfair system has been explained over and over again and yet still no reforms. In What Next, Chicago? by Matt Rosenberg, the quote below from City Hall news reporter John Holden really stuck with me. “It’s part of that disconnect…people just don’t have a clue. I just recently saw… Read more »
There are several logical fallacies in your assessment. People care, even more so now that inflation has really taken off. Assuming that folks don’t know what’s going on is also a fallacy.
You are twisting my words Dr. Spock. Nowhere in my post do I say that people do not care. Nowhere in my post does it say that all folks don’t know what’s going on. Some folks did not know what was going on–I did not understand Illinois govt. when I bought my first home for sure. A lot of taxpayers, including me, did not understand how the Illinois pension tsunami came about–until I started reading articles and books on the subject. I think the author Zettler said once that maybe only one in ten private sector workers understood how public… Read more »
No, I’m not. Cannibal food is ridiculously sensational! It’s also demoralizing. You’ve created a straw man fallacy by evoking a strong image that distorts the taxpayers’ situation. Why not engage in informed discussion and seek constructive solutions where we can work towards meaningful reforms that benefit everyone?
Regarding education, we’ve got too many dots to connect already. By the time you unravel the situation, it will be too late. The time to act is now.
The irony of raising taxes the most in the north and north west suburbs is that these are the most diverse and least segregated parts of the county. I don’t mean higher minorities, but most diverse in a block by block sense. Skokie, Niles, Morton Grove, Northbrook, Des Plaines, Wheeling, Schaumburg, Hoffman Estates, Palatine, are increasingly becoming the least segregated places in the entire state, with every block and school looking like a dystopian United Nations, where fewer and fewer people speak English at home, your neighbors don’t care for beer or football and may not even eat meat, or… Read more »
Be grateful your church still stands.
I know, it still stands because the few remaining Christians are committed to keeping it alive and out of the hands of the dying Globohomo heretics that have scalped what remains of protestantism and wear its carcass as a trophy. Not too long ago, I spent 10 minutes reviewing the websites of the dozen or so protestant churches in a several miles radius of my home, and all but one (the korean church) had gone full ghey, with trans-services, “all are welcome here” “no person can be illegal” all over the front page of their website. One church spent an… Read more »
Yup, you’re absolutely correct.
Many retired municipal employees and teachers in Punta Gorda belly laughing at this article- keep the cream and gravy coming suckers oink, oink.
Yup, recently encountered a soon-to-retire Lake County (not North Shore) HS guidance counselor, earning $175,000+/year plus benefits. That’s a lotta cash for helping HS seniors prepare their college-application essays.
Squeeze the python tightly wrapped around the necks of the taxpayers of
Crook County. It is getting harder and harder to breathe. The “ Usual gang of idiots “ and laughing at us the whole time.
Years ago it was said taxes are always collected at a point in time furthest away from an election so people forget the financial pain. So it is and shall be forever in Illinois!
There is a lot of support for higher taxes in Illinois consisting of the free stuff army, government employees, politicians, governmental pensioners, immigrants, things like Chinese battery companies, and those with assorted tax giveaways including farmers who haven’t paid their fair share of taxes in decades. Like it or not that is how it is so enjoy your high taxes folks because slowly but surely you voted for them.
The small city/ town retired fire captain lives a lavish retirement after mostly driving a fire truck in parades for 30 years and leading the gaming of pensions for the local.
The superbowl is over and tax season has arrived. Just remember, all those various, outrageous Illinois taxes you pay provide all the fantastic benefits that are lacking in other states. Ah, remind me, what exactly are they again?
ONLY BENEFITS HERE ARE BEING GIVEN TO ILLEGALS….TAXPAYER IS GETTING RAKED OVER THE COALS…….SOME BENEFITS TAKEN AWAY
Are Illinois residents willing to stay no matter how high the cost? Probably most are, hence your state and local governments will continue to raise taxes and not worry about the 1% (or less) that leave each year. The remaining 99% will just have to pick up the cost of the 1% that left. Of course, this can’t go on indefinitely, and the state will eventually collapse. On the plus side, maybe those that choose to stay will be dead before the collapse. So, to recap, your best choice is to leave or die.
Mark. Is there a comparison for the increased school levies for Harvey/Dolton/Homewood/Thornton and what the enrollments are in those districts? Not sure but maybe they have declining numbers of students with increased costs so the per pupil costs went up.
Also how much of the increase in taxes for Chicago and other towns are diverted to TIF districts?
Thanks WP for assembling the facts. Sending to my kids so they understand who is driving their rents through the roof.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha Suckers! Illinois taxpayers love their big fat govt. What an absolute scam.