Cook County Property Tax Bills Bring Sticker Shock For Many Homeowners; 'Should We Sell The House? Can We Afford To Stay?'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Cook County property owners are getting their latest property tax bills, and many are fuming at the increases they're seeing. One man tells CBS 2 it's the largest hike he's seen in 30 years for his home.
Across the county, second installment 2018 property tax bills are up an average of nearly 4 percent from 2017, but some property owners were hit much harder than that.
"It's discouraging," James Nathan said.
Nathan bought his home at Irving Park Road and Seeley Avenue in 1986. His new tax bill is making him reconsider his options.
"Should we sell the house? Can we afford to stay in the neighborhood? Would we buy a condo? Would we, should we move out of the area to someplace where the taxes aren't quite as onerous?" He said. "It's not something we're debating. We haven't made a decision, but it certainly brings up that issue forcefully."
Nathan said many of his neighbors are in the same boat.
North Side homeowners saw an average increase of more than 11 percent on their property tax bill on average. South Siders saw an average increase of about 1 percent.
"It seems to be from the last assessment," Nathan said.
The Cook County Assessor's office has set up tables in the hallway at the County Building to field taxpayers' questions. Assessor Fritz Kaegi's office said tax bills going out now are the result of assessments performed by the previous administration, under Joe Berrios.
Jay Tang said the taxes on his West Loop condo went up about 17 percent. He's relying on his homeowner's association for relief.
"Our board has hired a lawyer to go against the higher assessments, but recently we don't have any luck with that," he said.
Tax bills that have gone out this summer are due Aug. 1, and if you pay late, you could run into additional fees.