A few large Chicago property owners fell behind on 2021 taxes

While property owners in Chicago’s southern suburbs have the most delinquent tax bills, those who owe the most in late property taxes are landlords of big downtown commercial assets.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said that 96 percent of county property owners paid on time, but others are holding off, Crain’s reported. 

Jewelry Tower, a part owner of the struggling Pittsfield Building at 55 East Washington Street still owes $3.71 million, the largest unpaid tax bill in the county, according to Pappas. The owner of the building at 140 East Walton Place, which contains The Drake Hotel, owes $1.13 million while the owners of the Leo Burnett building — which recently became the New York-based companies of investors Shaya Prager and Katherine Cartagena — owes $1.42 million.

“I think a lot of people on the list can afford to pay. They just don’t,” Pappas said. Those who pay late face a 1.5 percent monthly penalty on the amount due for late payment.

The southern suburbs have the lowest collection rates with barely half of all property owners paying on time. Ford Heights had the worst rate at 29.3 percent of 2021’s property taxes paid on time.

In addition, on the South and West sides of Chicago, where there are a lot of vacant lots, the on-time collection rate was about 70 percent.

“Much more needs to be done to return vacant lots to productive use, and funding mechanisms other than the property tax should be considered to help pay for vital government services, particularly education,” Pappas told the outlet. “Without help, the economic struggles of the ‘southland’ will continue to deteriorate.”

The biggest unpaid bills for residential properties are the $326,000 owed for the property at 2847 South Broad Street and the $204,000 owed on 655 West Irving Park Road.

Most bills are paid eventually, but properties with outstanding bills for more than a year can be auctioned off for back taxes at county scavenger sales.

 — Victoria Pruitt