Where is the second installment of my Cook County property tax bill?

That’s what you’ll hear these days when anyone brings up the subject of Cook County real estate taxes. In recent years, the Cook County Treasurer has issued the second installment bills for these obligations in a reliably timely manner: for the last three years, the second installment has issued in the first week of August, with payment due the first week in September. This timetable has been useful, but aspirational – the County is not mandated to issue the bills on or by a given date, and sometimes the bills are issued after this late-summer window.

Why are Cook County taxes billed the way they are? During the early 1930s, many property owners were unable to pay their property taxes when billed. In 1930, group of such property owners founded The Association of Real Estate Taxpayers (ARET). The primary goal of ARET was compel state and local governments to obey that clause of the Illinois Constitution of 1870 which required uniform taxation for all forms of property, not only real estate. It also advocated rate reductions for property taxes, and for reductions in local government spending. At its peak, the organization claimed nearly 30,000 members. During its existence, ARET’s signature accomplishments were to sue state and local governments to further its goals, and to call for a “tax strike”, or refusal by taxpayers to pay their taxes while the court case was still pending. When the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear its case in October 1932, the movement largely collapsed, and was defunct by 1933.

Although ARET failed with its larger agenda, collection of real estate taxes remained problematic during the Depression. In 1933, the State of Illinois essentially gave taxpayers a break by deferring the obligation to pay taxes to the following year. From that time on, Cook County real estate taxes have been paid “in arrears”, or for the previous year. By law, the first installment of the tax equals 55% of the total tax of the previous year, and any increase or decrease in the assessed value, and exemptions to be applied, are reflected in the second installment.

Cook County property taxes fund a range of local government recipients, including the City of Chicago, the Chicago Board of Education, the Chicago Park District, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District. The City of Chicago’s diverse municipal infrastructure portfolio, including streets, sidewalks, viaducts, libraries, two airports, shoreline improvements, firehouses, police stations, and other municipal buildings, is also paid for largely through the City’s debt obligations. Failure to collect property taxes in a timely manner, the City could fail to make its interest payment on municipal bond debt, due January 1st of each year.

Why are the tax bills being issued later this year? The official explanation of the Cook County Treasurer’s office is that it is upgrading the technology, specifically the Property Tax and Mass Appraisal System and the Electronic Court Document and Case Management System. However, some who are familiar with the situation doubt that the delay could be due to a technology upgrade.

How to prorate the real estate taxes is one of the many issues confronting buyers and sellers. With the limited information available, due in large part to the arrearage payment of these taxes, parties rely on the expertise of their lawyer to counsel them, not only as to the most beneficial choice in this matter, but throughout the transaction. If you are buying or selling real estate, let us bring our knowledge of the closing process to your assistance.

Contact Georgia Beatty at 312-500-8064, or at Georgia.Beatty@gmail.com .

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Looking up at tall, modern skyscrapers with reflective glass facades against a blue sky, some cloud trails.

How can housing in the City of Chicago be made more affordable?

January 2, 2026

One solution may be the construction, and preservation, of small multi-unit housing. In the City of Chicago, the majority of such housing is in the form of two- to four-unit dwellings, or flats. In Chicago, the waves of immigrants to the city helped to shape and define its housing stock. From the 1830s through 1871, single-family homes, made primarily of wood, dominated the civic housing stock. After the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, dwellings made primarily of wood were outlawed by municipal ordinance, but many builders ignored the ban, and continued to use wood as their primary building material. In 1874, a smaller civic fire occurred, which destroyed approximately 800 structures over 60 acres. These disasters, as well as the widespread use of brick, stone, marble and limestone - and especially, for its fireproof properties, terra cotta - fueled the Chicago building boom in the late 19th century. As before the Great Fire, most construction of new dwellings was of single-family homes. The use of these more durable building materials, held together with mortar, allowed builders to make ever taller structures which fueled the City’s skyscraper boom. By the early 20th century, builders of residential properties applied these techniques to home construction. Architects could draft templates of proposed dwellings which would fit on a standard Chicago 25 feet by 125 feet lot. Now immigrants, and their descendants, could buy a two-, three-, or four-flat, which allowed them to inhabit one of the flats, while the other dwelling units were rented out. They could also allow relatives live in one of the other units, if necessary. These dwellings helped their owners build equity and wealth, and promoted a moderate level of density that strengthened community bonds. The majority of these structures were in place by 1917. Two- to four-flats comprise approximately 25% of the City’s housing stock. to the postwar housing shortage, cheap gasoline, greatly improved access to residential mortgage loans, and the promotion of the single-family dwelling as an ideal, the multifamily dwelling type has fallen out of favor since the end of World War II. This is evidenced by changes to the Chicago zoning ordinance in 1944, 1957, and 2004, which involved addressed mandatory minimum setbacks, parking space requirements, and changes to the floor area ratio (a zoning tool that dictates building density, by comparing a building’s total floor area to the size of the lot on which it is situated). This all despite the fact that multiunit dwelling promotes intergenerational living, and the housing cost savings occasioned thereby; that it enables families living together to address caretaking issues; and that it promotes “green” living when situated near bus or rail lines. Per The American Community Survey, approximately half of all renter households spend more than 30% of their income on housing. The Pathways to Removing Obstacles to Housing program, a program of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which aids state and local governments for facilitates affordable housing. Specifically, the program focuses on communities that work to remove affordable housing barriers such as arcane zoning ordinances and other inefficiencies. With respect to the City of Chicago, things may be changing. The Connected Communities Ordinance http://www/chicago/city/en/sites/equitable-transit-oriented-development/home/connected-communities-ordinance.html, was passed by the Chicago City Council in July 2022 – with the support of all 27 alderman who were newly-elected to the Council. If you are selling or buying real estate, let us bring our knowledge of the closing process to help make your transaction proceed as smoothly as possible. Contact Georgia Beatty at 312-500-8064 , or at Georgia.Beatty@gmail.com .