Property tax collections in the south suburbs fell this year in part due to a record surge in taxes and economic factors such as inflation, according to a report from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.
Pappas’ office said the overall collection rate for the 2023 tax year across the Chicago region was just over 95%, but still the lowest collection rate in more than a decade. .
This means that approximately $225 million in property taxes that would have been paid to local communities, school districts, and other taxing entities will not be collected, but property owners who are behind on their taxes will still have to pay their bills. , Pappas said, avoiding the sale of delinquent taxes next year.
Across Chicago and its surrounding suburbs, communities in the south suburbs had the lowest property tax collection rates, according to the report.
Pappas said the southern and southwestern suburbs were impacted by a 27.7% increase in housing delinquencies, which led to a 1.5% decline in collections.
Delinquencies skyrocketed after a reassessment in the region shifted much of the tax burden from businesses to homeowners. The change resulted in a record 19.9% increase in the area’s median tax bill, according to the report.
The Southland’s tax increases were the largest in 29 years, but the pain was even worse in communities of color in the south suburbs, a Pappas study found this summer.
Median taxes in 15 southern suburban cities (13 with majority black populations) rose more than 30%, according to the study.
People wait to question Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi about property tax increases in Chicago’s south suburbs during a meeting at Thornton Fractional North High School in Calumet, July 22, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
In Park Forest, for example, the median bill increased from $2,567 to $7,152, and Dixmoor’s property tax rate increased 122% this year compared to 2023, Pappas said.
Property owners countywide paid $700 million more in taxes this year, a 4% increase from a year ago and slightly below the 4.1% inflation rate, according to Pappas’ June report.
“Many south suburban residents have seen their taxes jump by thousands of dollars this year,” Pappas said in a report released Wednesday. “Many homeowners have had to choose between paying their property taxes on time and buying medicine, food and gasoline. Now their homes may be at risk. .”
Property owners can pay off unpaid taxes before the delinquent property is put up for sale, but the interest on the bill is compounded monthly.
Pappas said a record-short period until the final tax bill in 2023-2024 and dramatic shifts in tax burdens in southern and southwestern suburbs likely contributed to the decline in collections. Said it was expensive. Economic factors such as rising consumer prices may also have played a role, he said.
Rising home prices also mean that about 4,200 south suburban homeowners who previously received ample tax relief through exemptions without having to pay taxes will now have to pay taxes ranging from just a few cents to nearly $11,000 this year. I saw the bill.
More than one in 10 households in the southern and southwestern suburbs will still be paying taxes in 2024, a 27.4% increase from the previous year, according to a recent Pappas report.
Elderly residents, especially in the southern suburbs, seemed to be having a hard time paying. The number of delinquencies for properties with senior citizen exemptions, which indicate that the property is the primary residence of a person aged 65 or older, increased by 50.6% this year, according to treasurers. She said many, if not most, seniors would be cleared of arrears if the assessment errors were corrected.
Countywide, the number of delinquent taxpayers, property owners who have not paid their taxes in full 31 days after the deadline, increased by 22,500 to 195,845 this year, compared to 173,345 last year. Ta.
Some communities in the south suburbs struggled to reach the 50% levy level this year.
Ford Heights’ tax collection rate was just over 30 percent, the lowest among Cook County suburbs, according to Pappas’ latest report.
Of the $4.4 million billed to suburban taxpayers this year, $1.4 million was collected, the report said.
But Pappas said Ford Heights saw the biggest improvement in collections of all suburbs this year, increasing by nearly 10% compared to 2023, when taxes due in 2022 were paid.
Robbins’ collection rate is 50%, and its treasurer sent out $8 million in tax bills this year, with $4 million collected.
Harvey’s collection rate is 52%, with a total of $57.8 million in taxes billed and $30.1 million collected this year, according to Pappas’ report.
Dixmoor’s collection rate was just under 74%, with $7.6 million in taxes billed and $5.6 million collected.
Dolton’s collection rate reached 79%, with a tax bill of $59.6 million and collections of $47.1 million this year, according to the treasurer.
mnolan@southtownstar.com
