Politics

Second Installment of 2025 Cook County Property Tax Bills Will Be 2 Months Late, Officials Say

Cook County property owners will have until at least October to pay the second installment of their 2025 property taxes, officials announced Tuesday.

Second installment property tax bills are typically released in early July and due in early August, but those bills have been repeatedly delayed by an overhaul of the county’s property tax system plagued with problems.

Those bills will be two months late, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said without offering a firm date for bills to arrive in property owners’ mailboxes or a deadline for payments.

The first installment of 2025 property tax bills — which arrived in mailboxes at the height of the primary for Cook County Board president — was a month late, with payments due April 1, records show.

Preckwinkle, who overwhelmingly defeated Ald. Brendan Reilly (42nd Ward) in the March Democratic primary, said weeks before Election Day that the bulk of the problems with the county’s property tax system had been solved.

But issues remain, Preckwinkle said in a statement.

“The long-term answer is a property tax system with clearer responsibility, fewer handoffs and greater accountability,” said Preckwinkle, who will face Libertarian Michael Murphy in November’s general election. “Structural reform is how we prevent this from becoming normal.”

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas is unopposed in her bid for reelection, and is weighing a bid for Chicago mayor in 2027.

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi was ousted by challenger Pat Hynes in the Democratic primary.

The second installment of 2024 property tax bills was four months late, creating a cash crunch across the county that forced cities, school districts and other agencies to scramble to pay their bills.

Preckwinkle said Tuesday she intends to reopen and expand a $300 million program to offer no-interest loans to taxing districts in need of “immediate relief.”

“This bridge fund gives schools, libraries, parks, fire districts and other local governments a short-term tool to keep serving residents while we continue the deeper work of fixing a fragmented property tax system,” Preckwinkle said.

A measure to offer and expand the program is set to be considered by the Cook County Board of Commissioners in July, according to the statement from Preckwinkle’s office.

Cook County has offered no-interest, short-term loans to local taxing bodies three times in recent years, records show.

“We are announcing this now because local governments need time to plan,” Preckwinkle said. “The county is committed to open communication with taxing bodies, and we want eligible districts to understand their options before they consider other financing options, such as short-term borrowing.”

Applications are expected to open July 20 and close Aug. 24, according to the statement from Preckwinkle’s office.

The four-month delay in the second installment of property tax bills in 2024 cost Chicago Public Schools an additional $33 million in borrowing costs, records show.

Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]

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