Cook County Clerk David Orr’s office today released the 2009 Cook County Tax Rates Report. The Cook County Treasurer’s office also announced that property tax bills are expected to be mailed via U.S. mail on Wednesday, November 10th. Taxpayers who can’t wait for the mail will be able to look up their tax liabilities on the Treasurer’s web site beginning Wednesday. Tax bills will be due on December 13th, 2010. The first installment tax bills for 2010 will be mailed as usual at the end…
On Monday the Civic Federation released the Cook County Modernization Report, which provided leaders of Cook County with ideas for improving and reshaping county government. Cook County government provides three major public services: a comprehensive public health system; a judicial system including law enforcement and the State’s Attorney’s Office; and tax administration and official records including birth, death, and marriage. The County’s ability to continue to provide these services in the…
The purpose of the Cook County Modernization Report is to provide leaders of the County with ideas for reshaping and refining County government that will improve service delivery to residents while reducing wasteful spending and decreasing reliance on taxpayer funds. The Modernization Project provides a roadmap for creating a government that is more efficient, less costly and more accountable. The report contains actionable recommendations that can be implemented in the first 100 days after the…
Q: Why has the Civic Federation produced the Modernization Report? A: Cook County’s ability to continue to provide to the public health services, law enforcement and judicial services, tax administration, and official records-keeping is jeopardized by its inefficient operations and outmoded governance structure. The Civic Federation embarked on the Cook County Modernization Project because it believes these problems must be addressed immediately beginning in December of 2010, when a new…
With an estimated 5,287,037 residents, Cook County is the most populous county in the State of Illinois and the second most populous county in the United States, coming only after Los Angeles County in California.[1] The County is 946 square miles in size – of that only 15% is unincorporated by the City of Chicago or other municipalities. The role of Cook County government is to provide healthcare, court, and public safety services, as well as administer vital records and assess and collect…
Tax increment financing (TIF) districts do not freeze property tax revenue available to other taxing districts in Cook County; the principal effect of TIF is to raise tax rates higher than they otherwise would have been.[1] Any additional effects of TIF districts depend on whether or not the redevelopment would have occurred even if the TIFs had not been created. Opponents of TIF often claim that TIF diverts millions of dollars from Cook County school districts and other taxing districts.…
Cook County second installment property tax bills are expected to come out late this year and might not be due until December 22. Will your bill be higher or lower than last year? It is very difficult to predict whether the tax bill for an individual parcel will increase or decrease in the future due to the complex interactions of many moving parts in the Cook County property tax system. The Civic Federation published a report last week describing how property tax rates are calculated…
100-Day Accountability Report This 100-Day Accountability Report gives a progress update on recommendations to reform Cook County that the Civic Federation made in its Cook County Modernization Report. The 100-Day Report provides an overview of key events in the transition to the new administration of Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, summarizes key findings from the Modernization Report, provides an update on the County’s budget since publication of the original report and…
The purpose of this report is to describe how property taxes are extended in Cook County, Illinois. It defines tax extension, explains the mechanics of calculating rate limits and tax caps, and describes the effects of Tax Increment Financing districts on the tax revenues of local governments. It also includes trend data on Equalized Assessed Value, tax rates, tax extensions, and TIF revenue. Finally, the report explains the difficulty of predicting changes to individual tax bills. Read the…
The Cook County Transparency Initiative provides citizens of the County access to transition reports, commissioner reports and research about attempts to reform Cook County. Its purpose is to improve the public's access to informationabout County programs. This webpage also includes links to Civic Federation research about the County and its associated bodies of government such as the Cook County Health and Hospitals System and Forest Preserve District of Cook County. This resource collects in…
