Pappas: $94 million in property tax refunds available on new website

Cook County property owners can recover $94.1 million in tax overpayments by going to cookcountytreasurer.com, Treasurer Maria Pappas said today.

The money is unclaimed even though since 2009 nearly $544 million in overpayments has been refunded or prevented by the Treasurer’s Office.

Because refund claims often are disputed among different payers, including mortgage companies, banks, buyers and sellers, the application requires proof that the refund applicant paid the taxes.

Pappas has revamped cookcountytreasurer.com so that property owners can now search by address as well as Property Index Number (PIN) and get an instantaneous response for available refunds going back 20 years.

The redesigned site puts key information about your property in a single place. To see if you are entitled to a refund, go to the website:

• Select “Your Property Tax Overview”

• Search by address or by Property Index Number (PIN)

• Look for the results under “Are There Any Overpayments on Your PIN?”

• Complete the online application if you believe you are entitled to a refund

By Illinois law, the total annual payout of refunds that arose before 2009 is capped at $2.5 million. The money available for refund has been distributed to Taxing Districts. If a refund is granted, the Treasurer’s Office recovers the money from the appropriate local government.

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Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

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