Homeowners in some of the city’s most affordable neighborhoods may be surprised to see a spike in their property tax bills that were mailed out Friday.
Residential property tax bills are rising fastest in Black neighborhoods on the South and West sides as the county’s tax burden shifts away from the economically depressed Loop, according to a report from the Cook County treasurer’s office.
The Sun-Times broke the news in March that the property tax burden had shifted from the Central Business District to neighborhoods. Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ report, released Monday, gets specific about how that shift has hit minority neighborhoods hardest.
Tax bills rose the highest in:
- West Garfield Park, the median homeowner tax bill increased nearly $2,000 — or 133% — the highest of any area.
- North Lawndale home tax bills increased nearly $1,900, or 99%.
- Englewood, the increase was $609, or 82%.
Home values in many poor neighborhoods have finally recouped the value they had before the Great Recession, according to the report. And since their value is rising faster than homes in more expensive neighborhoods, their tax bills have risen the quickest.
All of that is compounded by an overall increase in the tax levy across the county and the shrinking contribution in property taxes from businesses in the Loop.
Pappas summed up the issue in a news release: “When the Loop gets a cold, the rest of the city gets pneumonia.”
Lance Williams, professor of urban studies at Northeastern Illinois University, said the shifting tax burden to the city’s poorest residents is a result of bad public policy.
“It’s unfortunate that this crisis downtown now has to be felt by Black and brown neighborhoods,” said Williams, a South Sider who is studying the links between public policy and neighborhood disinvestment and violence.
“I look at this like robbing from the poor to give to the rich. The poor have to bail out out the rich,” Williams said.
Chicago’s residential property tax bills changed more than usual this year because of the reassessment of property in 2024. The reassessment triggered a shift in tax burden from commercial properties in the Loop to homeowners elsewhere.
Commercial property values in the Loop tumbled during the pandemic as offices became vacant and workers shifted to hybrid schedules. The Loop hasn’t fully recovered.
Commercial property there lost $379.2 million, or 7.2%, in assessed value, according to the report. The Loop’s commercial properties accounted for 11% of all taxes collected in 2024, compared to 13% the year before.
Meanwhile, the tax burden on homeowners skyrocketed as home values increased, but the overall value of commercial property stagnated.
On the South and West sides, the median residential property bills rose by more than 30% in 15 community areas. “Chicago residents who had seen their home values plummet during the Great Recession now are seeing values, and their taxes, skyrocket,” the report states.
Homes on the West and South sides were also hit harder because property owners appealed their assessments less often, according to the report.
But in richer neighborhoods, the increase was not as stark. The analysis found residential assessed values largely kept up with actual sales prices in recent years.
Overall, more homeowners are paying more in property taxes. Taxes increased for more than 1.2 million homes, about 80% of all Cook County homeowners. The median residential tax bill in the city rose 16.7%, to $4,457 — the largest percentage city increase in at least 30 years, according to the report.
Other factors contributed to rising tax bills, including an overall increase in the tax levy. Across the county, taxes rose $871.8 million to nearly $19.2 billion, or 4.8%, well above the 3.5% inflation rate for 2024, according to the report.
Bills also rose due to the increased demand from Tax Increment Financing districts and taxes imposed under the state’s “recapture law,” which lets school districts and local governments increase levies to make up for taxes refunded the previous year to taxpayers who appealed.
About 5,300 homeowners who owed nothing last year are getting a bill this year, according to the report, because their assessed home values now exceed the value of their exemptions.
Cook County suburbs were largely spared from large increases because their properties had been reassessed in prior years, according to the report.
Nearly 1.8 million tax bills were mailed to property owners Nov. 14 after a four-month delay. They are due Dec. 15.