Cook County tax bills sent to 1.8 million property owners

The first installment of property tax bills are on their way.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas mailed out 1.8 million bills for Tax Year 2021, according to CBS 2 Chicago.

Payments for the first installment, which equals 55 percent of the previous year’s total tax, are due March 1. Exemptions that can reduce taxes on a property will be applied to the second installment.

About 13,000 property owners have paid their bills online since they were posted on Dec. 7 on the treasurer’s website. There is no fee to pay online but paying after the deadline will incur a late fee of 1.5 percent per month.

“If you’ve never paid your property taxes online, I urge you to do so. You’ll receive an electronic receipt that will come in handy when you prepare your income tax return,” Pappas said in a press release, according to CBS.

Property taxes have been a point of focus lately in and around Chicago. Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget, passed in October, raised property taxes $23 million for homeowners. The increase was based on the national inflation rate instead of a local one that some economists say makes more sense. Nationally, prices are rising 5.4 percent, higher than the 4.5 percent in Chicago.

Commercial property owners have seen their assessments increase recently under Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi. Kaegi has said that his predecessor Joe Berrios had a history of undervaluing commercial properties, which placed a larger tax burden on homeowners. In 2018, residential properties made up 48 percent of the total assessed value in the eight Chicago townships and commercial properties made up the remaining 52 percent. Now, the residential properties account for 37 percent of the total assessed value, with commercial properties making up the remaining 63 percent.

[CBS 2 Chicago] — Harrison Connery