Property tax rates in Cook County’s south suburbs can average about twice those in other areas of the region, leading to a different kind of sticker shock for homebuyers.
Matchmaker Property Solutions broker Regina Washington said buyers often don’t consider the whopping tax bills they’re going to face until their lender tells them to find less expensive houses in order to afford the escalated monthly costs of buying in the area due to taxes, according to Crain’s.
A home in south suburban Flossmoor had an annual property tax bill of more than $23,000, roughly twice the tax bill of comparably priced homes in west suburban Wheaton and north suburban Highland Park, a Crain’s analysis showed.
Experts blame the disparity on a loss of manufacturing businesses in the south suburbs that’s shifted the tax burden to homeowners. They also attribute it to a high rate of foreclosures that compressed those homes’ values and put more of a burden on other homeowners.
At the same time, taxing bodies in the area have continued to raise taxes, in some cases more than twice as much as towns in other regions of suburban Cook County.
South suburban homeowners, though, are not the only ones dealing with soaring tax bills. Residents in some of Chicago’s hottest neighborhoods have been shocked at the increase in the property assessments caused by rising home values in their neighborhoods. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien