Original News, Features & Opinion on Chicago, Illinois and America
Financial planning tool offers free online help to budget late tax payments By Maria Pappas Property owners who were unable to pay their tax bills in full by the Aug. 1 due date need not worry about losing their home – at least not right away. As a homeowner you have time to pay off…
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Pappas: New Payment Plan Calculator helps homeowners pay late taxes in smaller increments to avoid ‘merciless’ Annual Tax Sale Cook County property owners have a free financial planning tool that can help them pay off their past-due property tax bills and avoid the “merciless” Annual Tax Sale, Treasurer Maria Pappas said today. A Payment Plan…
Sale-in-error study shows how tax buyers transfer wealth from low-income areas By Maria Pappas My office redesigned this year’s property tax bills to clearly show where your tax dollars go. On the front of every bill, you can see how much of your hard-earned money goes to each taxing body What is less visible, however,…
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Treasurer Maria Pappas sending $22 million in automatic refunds to more than 10,000 who overpaid property taxes Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas is sending more than $22 million in automatic refunds to more than 10,000 property owners who overpaid their property taxes last year. “For many senior citizens and others, the value of tax breaks…
Read your property tax bill Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas urges homeowners Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas urges homeowners hit by record property tax hikes to see ‘Where Your Money Goes’ by visiting her website which provides details and comparisons on where increases occurred Cook County taxpayers should read their property tax bills to better…
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Treasurer Maria Pappas analysis shows record-high property tax increases for south suburban homeowners Homeowners in many south and southwest suburbs will have to pay a lot more in property taxes as the median tax bill jumped a record 19.9% in the region, according to an analysis released today by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. The…
You may be owed a refund for overpaying property taxes during past 20 years By Maria Pappas My office is sitting on about $93 million in potential refunds for property tax overpayments going back 20 years. Most overpayments occurred because more than one person paid the same tax bill twice. Reasons why duplicate payments occurred…
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Treasurer’s website offers easy way to update property tax bill address information By Maria Pappas My website, cookcountytreasurer.com, offers people an easy way to correct, change or update name and address information about where property tax bills are mailed. The best option is to electronically request the change online. You may request a change in…
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Senior freeze exemptions help prevent huge spikes in property tax bills By Maria Pappas Many senior citizens on fixed incomes face the challenge of managing their property taxes. They may be eligible for a tax break known as the “Senior Freeze” Exemption. My website, cookcountytreasurer.com, explains the eligibility requirements and can walk you through the…
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Senior citizen exemptions help give homeowners a break on big tax bills By Maria Pappas Senior citizens can get a break on their property tax bills, but they need to apply when seeking savings for the first time. The popular tax break is known as the Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption. For homeowners already receiving the…
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Top 10 tips that help homeowners better understand their property taxes By Maria Pappas Homeowners have taught me a few things about property taxes while I have served as Cook County Treasurer. One lesson is that the property tax system is complicated. Many people unfamiliar with the process have told me that they wished there…
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Word of mouth helps homeowner get $6,805 refund for missed exemptions By Maria Pappas Word of mouth helped chef Gabriel Miranda of Hickory Hills obtain a $6,805 refund for missed homeowner exemptions. Miranda said he and his wife deposited the money into their savings account. Their monthly bills include private high school tuition for the…
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Erika Maldonado to lead Spanish-language outreach for Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas Erika Maldonado will lead Spanish-language outreach to taxpayers for the Office of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas. Maldonado has strong connections throughout the Chicago-area Latino community. She is a journalist with 30 years of experience who has co-anchored evening newscasts for Univision WGBO-TV…
Money from your property taxes pays for essential local services Your Property Taxes with Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas By Maria Pappas My office recently mailed property tax bills to owners of nearly 1.8 million parcels in Cook County. First Installment tax bills are due March 1. Local governments, such as school districts and municipalities,…
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Illinois program lets senior citizens defer up to $7,500 per year in property taxes Your Property Taxes column with Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas By Maria Pappas Illinois offers senior citizens a property tax relief program that works like a loan. The Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral program allows qualifying seniors to defer up…
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Slashed interest rate on late property tax payments could prevent home loss By Maria Pappas As my office prepares for the Annual Tax Sale, we’re doing all we can to help people avoid losing their homes because of unpaid property taxes. One of the biggest legislative reforms to the Illinois property tax system in decades…
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New tool shows where property tax dollars go and informs fed up taxpayers By Maria Pappas When I saw how recent property tax bills shocked and angered many Cook County homeowners I knew people needed to understand why their taxes are so high. I began hearing from frustrated homeowners before tax bills landed in early…
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Treasurer Maria Pappas unveils online tool detailing property tax spending as Dec. 1 tax due date looms Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas today unveiled an innovative online tool that for the first time calculates year-to-year changes for each property tax bill and shows where tax dollars go. The search tool at cookcountytreasurer.com is available as…