Politics
Months Late, Second Installment of 2024 Cook County Property Tax Bills to be Due Dec. 15
(WTTW News)
Cook County property owners will have until Dec. 15 to pay the second installment of their 2024 property taxes, with bills headed to their mailboxes by Nov. 14, officials said.
Second installment property tax bills are typically released in early July and due in early August, but have been delayed for nearly four months by an overhaul of the county’s property tax system plagued with problems, as first reported by the Chicago Tribune and Injustice Watch.
The first installment of 2025’s property tax bills will be due no sooner than April, a month later than typical, to give financially strapped property owners more time between bills, under a state law that passed the General Assembly earlier this month.
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle acknowledged in a statement announcing the bills’ due date that “the critical overhaul of the technological backbone of the Cook County property tax system has had an impact on the county’s property tax processes and timelines.”
A working group, convened by Preckwinkle, meets weekly “to return bill timelines to their regular schedule,” according to her office.
Although Preckwinkle’s office “has no statutory role in the administration of the tax bills,” as the statement announcing the due date highlighted, Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward), has sought to capitalize on the delay to boost his bid to defeat Preckwinkle in March’s Democratic primary.
Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi has also been blasted for the delay by his challenger, Lyons Township Assessor Pat Hynes, even though his office did not contribute to the delay.
Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, who has repeatedly criticized other county officials for the property tax bill delay, is also running for reelection and is weighing a bid for Chicago mayor in 2027.
Bills will be available at cookcountytreasurer.com and should hit mailboxes by Nov. 14.
Video: Tax-increment financing wasn’t invented in Chicago, but former Mayor Richard M. Daley perfected it as he worked to transform Mud City into a gleaming metropolis.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
