These rates are driven down by the high number of vacant and abandoned properties. Ford Heights has by far the county's lowest collection rate - an alarming 29.3%. For the 2021 tax year, Harvey, Robbins, and Phoenix have collected between 49.9% and 52.1% of what they billed (Table 4). The south suburbs have the lowest collection rates. Municipalities with fewer than 500 properties in the county were omitted. * For municipalities that are in multiple counties, only the parts of the municipalities that are in Cook County were analyzed. Table 3: The 15 municipalities with the highest tax year 2021 collection rates, as of January 25, 2023. Incentive properties - which pay taxes on a lower percentage of their assessed values - have higher collection rates than non-incentive properties. About 63% of properties offered at the 2022 Scavenger Sale were vacant lots, even though vacant lots account for only 3.6% of the county's taxable properties, according to a Treasurer's Office study.Ĭommercial and industrial properties have slightly lower collection rates than residential and multi-family properties. Vacant land has had a higher likelihood of becoming tax delinquent and being offered at the Annual Tax Sale or the last-ditch Scavenger Sale for chronically delinquent properties. The exception was vacant land, on which only 70.7% of the money billed had been collected (Table 2). Tax year 2021 collection rates for most types of property, including commercial and industrial properties, apartment buildings, condominiums and single-family homes, were 95% or higher. The 25-day collection rates reflect the amount of money collected for each taxing district in the county, minus the amount refunded for various reasons, including bounced checks, duplicate payments and overpayments. The collection rates for prior years to date currently stand at 98% to 99% countywide. Collection rates are estimates based on the amount of tax dollars paid with refunds subtracted.Īs noted above, collection rates usually increase in the months and years after the bills are due, as delinquent taxes are paid or eventually sold at tax sales.

Table 1: Collection Rates 25 days after the second installment of property taxes were due in tax years 2017 to 2021.

That sale is held about 13 months after the due date. Historical trends indicate collections will continue to rise in coming months, particularly in the weeks before the Annual Tax Sale, which can over time result in the loss of one's property. This analysis looked at how much money was collected 25 days after bills were due and compared those collections to previous years' collections at the same point in the collection cycle. Those bills, and the uneven impact they had on taxpayers in different areas of the county, were analyzed by the Treasurer's Office in early December, when the second installment bills were mailed. For the 2021 tax year, which were billed in 2022, those taxing districts sought a total of $16.7 billion in property taxes. The Treasurer's Office bills and collects property taxes for all local taxing districts in Cook County.

For example, in Ford Heights - where the collection rate was 29.3% compared to the countywide rate of 96.0% - has not been able to afford a police force for years. Those collection rates, which were below 53% in four suburbs, make it tough for schools, municipalities and other government agencies to provide basic services. The inability to collect taxes owed to those communities also creates pressure on public officials to further increase taxes, which can push some of the highest tax rates in the nation to even more stratospheric levels. The historically high rate of property tax collections in Cook County held steady into 2023, but that overall high collection rate masks a little-known fact: collections in many economically struggling, mostly minority south suburbs are perilously low.Īnother key finding from the Treasurer's Office's examination of collections for bills mailed last year that were due December 30: collection of property taxes on vacant lots, many of which likely have been abandoned, stood below 71%. Sign up here to receive email alerts each time a new Pappas Portal issue is posted. The newsletters will provide analyses, observations and insights into Cook County's property tax system. Note: This is the first periodic newsletter from the Research Team in Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas' office.

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