Pappas Study Calls for Halt to Runaway Property Taxes

Cook County property taxes have grown at twice the rate of inflation over the past three decades, forcing home and business owners to turn over an ever-greater percentage of their annual earnings to local governments, according to a study released Monday by Treasurer Maria Pappas.

During those 30 years, property taxes imposed in Cook County grew by 182% to $19.2 billion, while inflation rose by less than 91% and average wages grew by 161%.

The study notes that the Illinois Department of Revenue is working on a comprehensive property tax report and suggests now is the time for Illinois lawmakers to pass significant tax reform and find ways for local taxing agencies to cut spending.

“The annual increases in taxes are relentless, taking more and more money out of peoples’ pockets,” Pappas said. “I see it every day in my office, with people wondering how they are going to pay their tax bills or even whether they can stay in their homes.

“Illinois in 2025 had the dubious distinction of having the highest residential property tax rate in the nation,” Pappas said. “Chicago also has the highest commercial rate in the U.S. It’s time for the governor, state lawmakers and local government leaders to come up with a reform plan that works for taxpayers — rather than produce another report that gets put on a shelf to gather cobwebs.”

Property taxes skyrocketed despite a state law designed to limit tax increases, primarily because government leaders have exploited loopholes in the law.

Key among those loopholes is placing no limits on property tax increases in special taxing districts, where a portion of property tax money is set aside to subsidize private development and job creation. Taxes in those tax increment finance districts, which have dramatically multiplied over the years, grew more than 1,000%, exceeding $1.8 billion in tax year 2024.

Also driving up taxes faster than inflation, and wage growth, was a 189% increase in taxes imposed by K-12 school districts that far outstripped the 91% inflation rate. School districts levied more than $10.5 billion in taxes in 2024, accounting for nearly 55% of the total county property tax burden.

OFFICE OF THE COOK COUNTY TREASURER

Maria Pappas

118 North Clark Street, Room 212

Chicago, Illinois 60602

The study, “How State Laws Failed to Stop Decades of Skyrocketing Property Taxes: A Case for Reform,” notes that state legislators have long been aware of the unsustainable upward trajectory in property taxes, but despite producing a slew of studies and legislative initiatives, have failed to provide relief for businesses and homeowners.

In some cases, state government made the problem worse by enhancing local government pension benefits and lowering the share of state revenue passed along to cities and villages, whose taxes increased by 201% over the 30-year period.

Click this link to read: 30-Year Tax History Executive Summary

Click this link to read: 30 Year History of Property Tax Levies – Final

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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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