Cook County

This section provides a glimpse of how the Cook County system functions. Here you can identify the current assessment on a parcel, get an understanding of certain tax jargon, find out the differences in classifications, and download a form you may need.

Cook County has over 1,600,000 real estate parcels and is the 2d largest assessment district in the United States. The quality of its assessment practices has a direct impact on the economic vitality of the City of Chicago with it's Cook County suburbs; and indirectly affects the vitality of the entire Chicago megalopolis.

A Brief History of Taxation in Cook County
The first Cook County assessment dates back to 1836 when the City of Chicago levied its first property tax. One of the first lawyers to ever contest a Cook County assessment was Abraham Lincoln on behalf of the Illinois Central Railroad. The Illinois Constitution of 1870 formally authorized a tax on property and required that it be applied uniformly. The property tax soon became a chief source of revenue for the State of Illinois as well as local government.

The real estate market collapsed in 1932 and with it went the property tax system. In response, the General Assembly abolished the state property tax and instead enacted a sales tax to fund state government. The property tax was left to fund local government and it was decreed that all counties with a population of 250,000 or more would have an Assessor.

Cook County Assessors
J.L. Jacobs: 1932 to 1934
John S. Clark: 1934 to 1954
Frank Keenan: 1954 to 1958
John McGuane: 1958
P.J. Cullerton: 1958 to 1974
Thomas M. Tully: 1974 to 1978
Thomas C. Hynes: 1978 to 1997
James M. Houlihan: 1997 to 2010
Joseph Berrios: 2010

The Modern Cook County System
The Cook County property tax system is unique in that it is riddled with confusion and until very recently, was often inconsistent. In fact, in the February 26, 2006 edition of the Chicago Tribune, former Assessor James M. Houlihan described his assessment process as a "Mystical Maze".

What makes Cook County's tax system so unique is that during the past 14 years, new legislation, designed to further confuse everyone was constantly being proposed. The effect of all this new legislation was simply to bounce the tax burden off of one group of unsuspecting taxpayers onto another group of unsuspecting taxpayers. It is expected that the new Cook County assessor will work to streamline the system and implement procedures that make the assessment process more user friendly.

The Future Cook County Tax System
The property tax will continue to provide the bulk of local government funding far into the future. Future property tax increases will be in the form of procedural changes and more aggressive assessment increases.

Meanwhile, revenue shortfalls will be made up via a greater reliance on the state income tax, state and local sales/use taxes, real estate transfer taxes, taxes on fuel, tobacco, alcohol, hotels, entertainment, the Internet, leases, gambling, parking, tuition and even an intangible tax. The possibilities are endless.

Excessive government spending is the only cause of excessive taxation. It is doubtful as to whether voters will ever directly confront the problem.

Sincerely,
John P. Fitzgerald
Chicago
February 2, 2012