CONSEQUENCES OF COOK COUNTY TREASURER’S SYSTEM FAILURES
As a result of the Cook County’s implementation failures of Tyler Technologies’ system to upgrade its property tax systems, the second installment 2024 real estate tax payments were delayed four and a half months and were due on December 15, 2025. In addition to the tax bill delays, all refund checks due Cook County taxpayers from Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) appeals and Cook County Circuit Court tax objections have not issued since May, 2025. This answers a common question from our clients of when their refund checks will be issued. No refunds have issued for the past eight months. The Cook County Board in late December, 2025 approved an additional $1.5 million contract extension to Guidehouse, which is helping manage the project of correcting the implementation of Tyler Technologies’ system issues. Hopefully, the Treasurer’s Office will begin issuing refund checks from the estimated $89 fund earmarked for these refunds that taxpayers are legally entitled to.
Cook County’s systems failure has resulted in the Treasurer’s Office’s delay in transferring the real estate tax revenue from 2024 second installment tax payments to school districts. As a result, several school districts have had to borrow money through tax anticipation notes or warrants, tap reserve or investment accounts, or move cash around to cover operating costs.
On December 18, 2025, Diana McCluskey, the chief school business officer at Palatine School District 15 testified at the Cook County Board meeting that her district borrowed $25 million. Interest, attorney and banking fees will cost them about $450,000, and lost interest from cashing our investments will cost them another $700,000,” she estimated. “Cook County besieged by property tax troubles,” Chicago Tribune, Sect. 1, p. 1. (12/22/25) There have been reports that in the final few days of 2025, emergency distributions from the Cook County Treasurer’s Office began issuing in two payments using either wire transfers or Automated Clearing House (ACH) distributions. For example, $40.3 million went to Evanston/Skokie School District (S.D.) 65 and another $29.1 million went to Evanston Township H.S. Dist. 202. This money only covers the school district’s main education levies, which make up about 80% of their overall tax levies. “Cook County sends millions to District 65, 202, city to cover late property taxes,” Evanston RoundTable, 12/30/25.
In addition to the detrimental consequences for taxpayers of their late due date of their second installment 2024 tax bills and lack of duly entitled PTAB, tax objection and Certificate of Error refunds for prior year’s missed homeowner’s exemptions and senior citizen homestead exemptions, taxpayers will receive their 2025 first installment tax bills in early March, 2026. First installment 2025 tax bills will be due in early April, 2026 which is only three and a half months after their second installment 2024 tax bill due dates were due this past December 15th.
