While property taxes for homeowners on the Southwest Side of Chicago shot up more than 20% from 2023 to 2024, southern suburbs were up and, in some cases, down, an analysis by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas showed Monday.
After being hit with a record 19.9% increase in their median residential tax bill last year, homeowners in the south and southwest suburbs get something of a break, with a median increase of 2.2%. Businesses face a median increase of 3.1%.
Tax bills were up in Palos Heights (1.53%), Palos Park (3.07%), Orland Park (2.20%), Oak Lawn (1.06%), Palos Hills (0.08%), Hometown (1.43%) and Palos Township (1.12%). But bills inched lower in Chicago Ridge (0.10%), Worth (0.61%), Hickory Hills (0.75%), Evergreen Park (0.90%), unincorporated Worth Township (0.63%) and unincorporated Orland Township (1.16%).
The higher city tax bills reflect reassessments done last year in Chicago by the Cook County Assessor’s Office, which shifted 2.4% of the city’s property tax burden from businesses to homeowners.
The median residential tax bill in the city rose 16.7% to $4,457 — the largest percentage city increase in at least 30 years. The jump also marks the third consecutive year that a reassessed area of Cook County saw record median tax bill increases for homeowners, largely because commercial values fell while residential values rose. Median means half of the tax bills were higher and half were lower than $4,457.
A dramatic decline in Loop commercial property values, the city’s longtime economic engine, fueled the record property tax increase on homes across the city, Pappas said. The amount of taxes imposed on Loop commercial properties — office buildings, retail stores, hotels and restaurants — for tax year 2024 decreased by more than $129 million because of a significant drop in their values.
“When the Loop gets a cold, the rest of the city gets pneumonia,” Pappas said. “Homeowners across the city are paying the price. I’m particularly concerned about how lower-income homeowners in struggling communities are going to pay their bills.”
Owners of large apartment buildings and complexes, as well as owners of industrial facilities, were not spared from this year’s tax shift. Multifamily properties — those with six or more units — must pay an extra $100.5 million, while industrial property owners must pay $73.5 million more. Commercial property owners across the city, by contrast, will pay $134.4 million less in taxes.
Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi blamed the Board of Review for the higher bills and said he was calling for reforms to protect homeowners. He raised alarms about the unfairness of a property tax system that forces reductions in downtown commercial properties to be shouldered by minority residents.
“The property tax system is inherently unfair,” Kaegi said. “When commercial properties have their assessments lowered by the Board of Review, homeowners are forced to pay the difference. We cannot have a property tax system that favors corporations and does not provide protections for homeowners. This is why I’ve been fighting for a ‘circuit breaker’ in Springfield. It would deliver immediate property tax relief for homeowners and protect against the tax hikes we’re seeing now.”
Homeowners will see the increases when they receive the second installment of their property tax bills, which were sent out last week and are due Dec. 15.
Property taxes are a zero-sum game, Pappas said. When one group of property owners pays a smaller share of an ever-increasing overall tax bill, others whose property values remain level or rise pay more.
For tax year 2024, Chicago homeowners will pay $469.4 million more than they did the year before because of the tax shift from commercial to other properties. Adding to the higher bills: Chicago Public Schools and other local governments asked for $500 million more than they did a year earlier.
Across Cook County, taxes rose by almost $871.8 million to nearly $19.2 billion, or 4.8% — well above the 3.5% inflation rate for 2024.
Property taxes have risen across the county for at least 30 consecutive years — the result of schools and local governments such as municipalities, the county, sanitary districts, library districts, park districts and fire districts asking for more money from property owners.