COOK COUNTY PROPERTY TAXES HAVE INCREASED BY DOUBLE THE INFLATION RATE IN THE LAST 30 YEARS
Maria Pappas, the Cook County Treasurer, recently issued a report which explained that over a 30-year-period from 1995 to 2024, Cook County tax levies rose 182% from $6.8 billion to $19.2 billion, while inflation over that same period was 91%. Further impacting taxpayers, average wages increased by about 161%.
The study explains that voter-approved tax rate increases and the expansion of tax-increment financing (TIF) districts, which subsidize economic development, have resulted in significantly larger tax hikes in Chicago and its suburbs. As the number of TIF districts increased from 154 to 418, TIF-related taxes in Chicago and its suburbs also rose sharply, climbing by 1,034% to more than $160 million. During the same period, the number of properties within those districts expanded from 18,314 to 281,880. The study also points to rising pension costs and cuts to the amount of state revenue shared with cities and towns. In addition, the reliance of school funding on property taxes at almost double the inflation rate over the past three decades has caused their total tax base to exceed $10.5 billion in 2024.
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas stated that “Illinois in 2025 had the dubious distinction of having the highest residential property tax rate in the nation. Chicago 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.”
The report puts forth a number of possible solutions to these monumental tax increases by 1) restoring the local share of state income taxes to local governments; 2) merging the Chicago’s teacher’s pension fund with the state, reducing the state and local pension obligations which has previously been rejected by the Illinois Supreme Court; 3) making another attempt at the voter-rejected plan pushed by Governor Pritzker in 2020 to change the state constitution to a federal-style graduated income tax; 4) implementing a surcharge on millionaires, 5) increasing the state’s income tax coupled with higher tax credits for lower incomes; 6) expanding the sales tax base to include more services like legal and accounting firms; 7) imposing state income taxes on retirement incomes of more than $100,000; and 8) consolidating government agencies such as merging townships with municipalities in communities like Berwyn and Oak Park.
Some or all of these solutions will require politicians and lawmakers to make difficult and challenging decisions in the near term which could have positive results in fighting Illinois’ never-ending and growing taxing liabilities in order to make it more affordable for Illinois residents and taxpayers in the longer term.
