We Can Help You Understand Your Property Taxes—In Nearly Any Language

By Maria Pappas

Understanding Cook County’s property tax system can be a challenge even for people born and raised here. Words like “assessments,” “exemptions,” and “multipliers” aren’t part of everyday conversation.

For many homeowners, deciphering a tax bill feels like solving a puzzle.

Now imagine you’re new to this country, perhaps from a place that doesn’t even have property taxes.

Many nations across Europe, Asia, and Africa don’t tax real estate the way we do.

So, for many immigrants, receiving a sizable bill in the mail after buying their first home, can be confusing and intimidating.

But if there’s one thing most immigrants do understand well, it’s the importance of homeownership. Owning a home is a milestone on the path to the American Dream. Poles have doggedly pursued that dream over the years, becoming the largest property owners in Cook County. They’ve shown language doesn’t have to be a barrier to land ownership.

The power of their example is one of the reasons why I’ve made it a top priority to help every Cook County resident, no matter where they’re from or what language they speak, understand how our property tax system works and how to avoid paying more than their fair share.

My office is committed to multilingual outreach that meets people where they are. From Albania to Zimbabwe, Cook County is home to residents from nearly every country in the world, and we aim to serve every one.

My office’s “The Property Tax System,” brochure contains useful information for property owners. It’s offered in English, Spanish, Polish and 25 other languages: Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Assyrian, Bulgarian, Chinese, Croatian, Czech, Filipino, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovakian, Thai, Ukrainian, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Here are some other ways we’re making the property tax system accessible:

Short educational videos on com in six languages—English, Spanish, Polish, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Arabic—explain how the system works and how you might qualify for a refund.
A website that’s translatable into more than 200 languages. Just click on the translator at the bottom of our homepage.

These tools explain how the property tax system works and whether you may be owed money. You can search your address at cookcountytreasurer.com to see if you qualify for a refund. Overpayment refunds go back 20 years, and missed exemptions, such as for seniors, veterans, or homeowners, can be claimed going back four years.

Spanish is the second-most spoken language in Cook County, with more than a million residents speaking it at home. That’s why we host a weekly Spanish-language radio show, “Latino Houses Matter,” airing at noon every Monday on WRLL-AM 1450. The show provides step-by-step guidance on refunds, exemption eligibility, and an easy-to-follow breakdown of the property tax system.

Immigrants have helped build this region into one of the most diverse and dynamic counties in America. Reaching every community with information in their language isn’t just the right thing to do—it’s essential to building equity and empowerment.

No matter what language you speak, we’re here to help you understand your taxes—and possibly save you money.

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Ray Hanania

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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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.

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