After several years of ever-increasing property taxes and a pandemic, it sounds like Chicago homeowners are not going to be getting a break on their 2020 (due in 2021) property taxes. This is particularly surprising after the Cook County Assessor announced in the fall that many property value assessments were being adjusted down because of COVID-19. Many homeowners were slated to receive reductions in their assessments of about 8-11%.
Now, a newly approved budget has once again approved property tax increases, on the order of $94 million across the city. The change is not a massive one: the average Chicago homeowner with a $250,000 house is expected to pay $56 more a year. But it adds insult to injury when taxes have already been going up nonstop, and clearly not even a pandemic can put a stop to the increases.
In fact, it’s the pandemic, added on top of the city’s already crumbling finances, that has precipitated the need for further increases, as the city’s revenues are down due to generally lower economic activity in 2020. Many aldermen had issues with the budget, but the Mayor seems to have been able to overcome this with a mix of funds for violence prevention and a promise of no layoffs for most classes of city workers.
The big question is where this all leads. Chicago is already known for having high property taxes and neverending increases. Can taxes really keep increasing every year?
We’ll stay on top of this issue, so be sure to check in with our blog and newsletters for the latest on Chicago property taxes and any potential tax breaks homeowners can receive.
