Homeowners in the city of Cook finally received their property tax bills Tuesday from the office of the Cook County Treasurer.
It also wasn’t a nice sight.
Due to the three-month delay and politics, many local people will pay more in taxes, in some instances much more.
In a Nutshell
When comparing the previous year to this one, Justin’s property tax bill in the West Loop increased by a whopping 22 percent.
One Rogers Park resident told Axios that their property taxes had increased by 32%.
In Lakeview, Monica saw a 71% (!) increase in her property tax.
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After years of special treatment from his predecessor, Joseph Berrios, Kaegi fought for re-election as Cook County Assessor on a platform of transferring the tax burden onto downtown commercial company owners.
Property owners in Chicago will see the first tax bill calculated with the help of Kaegi’s new method when they get the second payment for the year 2021.
Some Republicans said the election was to blame for the delay of tax legislation, but others said the problem was with the software.
Sobering up:
Kaegi looked at Chicago homes last year, but the company warned Axios that the tax bill might not reflect the increases.
The Mystery:
On Monday, Kaegi released a harsh report in which he accused the Cook County Board of Review of unfairly shifting the tax burden from downtown businesses to homes.
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It is within the purview of the Board of Review to make changes to the evaluations.
Because the Board of Review boosted homeowners’ portion of assessed value (in part due to big commercial property decreases downtown), “tax payments for many homeowners are likely to climb or remain flat,” said Kaegi.