Taxpayers have an extra month to pay First Installment of Tax Bills
In Cook County, first installment property tax bills are ordinarily mailed around February 1 and are due on March 1. This year, however, the first installment bills will not be mailed until late February or early March and will have an April 3 due date.
Taxpayers should note that the extension of the due date is a result of special circumstances surrounding last year’s tax bills and will be in effect for this year only.
Under state law, Cook County tax payments are supposed to be spread throughout the year, with first installment bills due on March 1 and second installment bills due August 1.
But computer compatibility problems between Cook County’s tax appeal agencies caused significant delays in the mailing of last year’s second installment tax bills.
The result was that second installment tax bills were due December 30, 2022, the latest-ever due date for such bills.
Concerned that this year’s first installment bills would be due just sixty-one days after last year’s second installment bills, Assessor Rich Kelly and his colleagues in the Cook County Township Assessors Association were among those who advocated for the extension of the first installment due date with the state legislature.
“I and my colleagues were concerned that a two-month interval between due dates was too short and would cause financial difficulties for some taxpayers,” Assessor Rich Kelly said in explaining his support.
“We were especially concerned about property owners whose tax bills increased unexpectedly and taxpayers who do not have tax escrow accounts with mortgage companies but instead pay property taxes on their own.”
The extension of the due date was approved by the state legislature with bipartisan support during its fall veto session and signed by the governor on December 21, 2022.
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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