Many Cook County homeowners are reeling from whopping property tax bills that came out late and much higher than expected. Chicago’s south and west sides saw some of the biggest increases as tax bills began arriving in mailboxes the last few days.
In the North Lawndale neighborhood, property tax bills went up on average 98%. In the West Garfield Park neighborhood, the average increase was more than 130%
One of the main reasons for skyrocketing property tax bills for homeowners is because of what’s happening downtown, where property taxes collected from commercial businesses dropped $129 million over the past year.
Richard Townsell, of North Lawndale, said his property tax bill went up more than 75%, and he has a friend whose bill jumped 237%
“My wife and I, we had a budget meeting last week as we were looking at this. You know, does that mean maybe we don’t take the vacation we thought we were going to take?” he said.
Similar frustration led to a property tax bill bonfire this weekend, organized by the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, for which Townsell is the executive director.
“It was a Boston Tea Party kind of moment, where it’s like taxation without representation. What do we do about this, not just whine about it?” he said.
One idea was to lobby for a state law in Illinois, similar to one in California, that caps property tax hikes at no more than 2% a year.
In the Englewood neighborhood, homeowners saw their property taxes jump 82%, an average of $609. In North Lawndale, the average increase was $1,900. In West Garfield Park, it was $2,000.
“I think it’s incumbent upon us as citizens to give our elected officials what we want. We should be pressing them around the bills that we want to see, not waiting for them to come up with a solution,” Townsell said.
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said the problem is what’s happening downtown.
“All these high rises, commercial buildings you see in downtown, are unrented, because the businesses have left the city,” she said. “Somebody had to pick it up, so the residences are picking it up.”
Homeowners are only paying that tab begrudgingly.
“I think government needs to learn how to live in their means, because, guess what? You and I don’t get 100% increase on our pay,” Townsell said.
Cook County homeowners are burning mad over the way government is spending more than they have.
