Illinois

Massive property tax hikes hurt Chicago’s low-income families

Published

5 months ago

October 16, 2025

Massive property tax hikes hurt Chicago’s low-income families

Chicago homeowners on the South and West Sides are bracing for huge property tax hikes, driven by surging assessments and government spending tied to pensions.

Property tax bills are about to spike for tens of thousands of Chicago homeowners.

A new investigation from Illinois Answers and the Chicago Tribune found assessments doubled or even tripled for more than 37,000 homes on the South and West Sides, setting the stage for punishing tax bills this fall. In Englewood, Roseland and North Lawndale, median assessments jumped between 119% and 160%, far outpacing the 22% citywide median.

For many longtime residents, this means higher tax bills they can’t afford and fewer options to relocate. One homeowner put it bluntly: “Even if I did sell, where would I go?”

These assessment spikes don’t exist in a vacuum. Property taxes are the primary funding source for local governments. Chicago continues to seek out more funding rather than lowering spending.

Illinois homeowners already pay the highest effective property tax rate in the nation, at about 1.83% a year of their property’s value. In Cook County, the effective rate is 1.98%. That burden has contributed to tens of thousands of residents leaving Illinois, shrinking the tax base and forcing those who remain to shoulder an even heavier load.

It’s also led to more than 1,000 homeowners in Cook County – including 125 senior citizens – since 2019 losing their homes and all of their equity over a property tax debt smaller than the price of a 10-year-old Chevy Impala. The U.S. Supreme Court has found the practice of taking more than the tax owed to be unconstitutional, but Illinois state lawmakers have yet to change the law to stop equity theft.

In May 2022, 37,000 properties in Cook County were planned for delinquent tax sale. Of those, 54% had tax debts of less than $1,000. High property tax rates are punishing low-income residents and making home ownership more difficult.

It’s time for Chicago policy leaders to look into reforms that can provide relief, especially to low-income communities that need it most.

Reforming costly tax increment financing districts would be one place to look. These districts set aside property tax revenue into a special fund to pay for commercial development projects such as land purchases, demolition or site prep.

These public dollars benefit private developers rather than schools, parks, or other public services. They also put local government in the role of picking winners and losers in the marketplace by subsidizing one business over another.

In 2023, $1.36 million in property tax revenue – 42% of Chicago’s $3.23 million total tax levy – was diverted into tax increment financing funds. In suburban Cook County, $428.3 million, or 25% of $1.69 billion in total property taxes, was allocated to these zones.

Lawmakers should cap how long tax increment financing districts can last and limit the number of times they can be extended. Returning those dollars to general use would bring much-needed transparency and real property tax relief for Illinois residents.

They should also look to reform the property tax appeals process. The process favors wealthier taxpayers and businesses that have the time and resources to appeal their assessments, leading to increased rates for homeowners who don’t. In higher-income communities, nearly 46% of properties filed appeals. In lower-income communities, just 11% appealed.

Between 2021 and 2023, businesses in Cook County, which already face some of the highest commercial property taxes in the nation, successfully appealed their property assessments and shifted $1.9 billion to homeowners.

Another complication is sitting lawmakers can act as property tax appeal attorneys and profit from a system of ever-growing tax hikes. Imprisoned former Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan did that, as well as confined former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke. That source of corruption shouldn’t be allowed.

Finally, the best way to reduce the burden on low-income residents is to reduce the tax burden for everyone. That can only be achieved through constitutional pension reform.

Chicago sees 80% of the property taxes go toward its growing pension debt. Rather than seeking to control spending, Gov. J.B. Pritzker recently signed a “pension sweetener” for Chicago police and firefighters that will increase liabilities by $11.1 billion.

Constitutional reform would allow for moderate pension changes. It would increase the fiscal health of these systems and reduce the property tax burden on Chicago homeowners.

Lawmakers can ease the pressure on neighborhoods such as Englewood, Roseland and North Lawndale by reforming pensions and eliminating the practices that drive up the costs. Structural reforms will give families stability and let communities thrive.

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Illinois

Illinois lawmakers consider tightening DUI law to 0.05 BAC

Published

41 minutes ago

March 3, 2026

Press Room

Illinois lawmakers consider tightening DUI law to 0.05 BAC

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (First Alert 4) – Right now, in Illinois, Missouri and most of the country, drivers must be at or over 0.08 to get a DUI. A proposal in the Illinois Statehouse would lower that threshold.

“Make it as safe as you possibly can out there,” said John Sapolis.

Collinsville resident John Sapolis said while lowering Illinois’ DUI threshold would not affect him, as he rarely drinks, he likes the idea of getting drinkers off the road.

“It’s bad enough out there driving around with people who are not drinking,” said Sapolis.

If a bill passes in the Illinois House of Representatives, the blood alcohol limit would be lowered, meaning fewer drinks could put somebody over the line for a DUI.

Two Chicago-area lawmakers propose lowering the threshold from 0.08 to 0.05.

“Your body still is not in a proper state to really be behind the wheel,” said Erin Doherty, Regional Executive Director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Doherty said even at 0.05, drivers are less coordinated and cannot track moving objects as well as when they are sober.

Utah is the only state in the country to have the 0.05 limit, and Doherty said one in five drivers there changed their behavior.

“There are so many other options before getting behind the wheel,” said Doherty.

Sara Floyd used to live in Utah and now calls Collinsville home.

“The Midwest people like to have a few beers while they watch their Little League games

“In Utah, you can barely get alcohol at a gas station,” said Floyd.

She said the culture in Utah is very different and thinks there should be some wiggle room for drivers.

“If one person had a beer within an hour period and then drove, they shouldn’t get a DUI for one drink,” said Floyd.

Doherty said they do not recommend driving even after a single drink.

“You really should not get behind the wheel when you’re any kind of impaired, one drink, five drinks, whatever that looks like, just don’t drive,” said Doherty.

While each body processes alcohol differently, according to the National Library of Medicine, in a two-hour period it takes a 170-pound man three to four drinks to reach 0.05, and it takes a 137-pound woman two to three drinks to reach the same state.

April Sage said she does not think this law would work, saying instead it would help more if the state added more public transit.

“I could have three beers and get a ride home safely,” said Sage.

First Alert 4 reached out to a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation to see if they had any comments on this bill. The spokesperson said they are not going to comment because it is pending legislation.

According to the Illinois Department of Public Health, fatal crashes involving one driver who had been drinking increased 4% from 2019 to 2022, despite multiple studies showing fewer Americans are drinking.

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Illinois

Voters had no choice in nearly 9-in-10 primary elections

Published

13 hours ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

Voters had no choice in nearly 9-in-10 primary elections

Illinois voting data shows voters had no choice of candidate in nearly 9-in-10 Democratic and Republican primaries for state and federal office in 2024.

Voters had no choice of candidate in nearly nine out of every 10 Republican and Democratic primary elections for state and federal office in 2024.

Analysis of Illinois voting data shows Democrats ran one or no candidate in 135 of the 155 primary elections for the U.S. House, Illinois Senate and Illinois House. That left voters with a choice between candidates in just 20 races.

Meanwhile, Republicans only ran one or no candidate in 137 of the 155 primary elections last year for non-judicial state and federal positions, giving voters of a choice in just 18 races.

In total, there were 155 primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives, Illinois Senate and Illinois House in 2024. Democrats did not run a candidate in 28 of these races while Republicans failed to run a candidate in 50.

And in the 107 Democratic primaries and 87 Republican primaries were only one candidate ran for the position, those candidates secured their spot on the general election ballot with a single primary vote.

To get on the primary ballot for Illinois Senate, the Illinois General Assembly mandates established party candidates to get 1,000 petition signatures from district party members. Illinois House candidates need 500 signatures. For U.S. House, either party’s candidates need signatures from 0.5% of all primary voters from their party in the district.

This lack of choice between candidates for Democratic and Republican party primaries also left general election voters with fewer choices on the ballot.

In the 2024 election cycle, 65 of the 155 non-judicial state and federal general elections had only one candidate on the ballot. That means in 65 districts, it only took one vote for a candidate to win a seat representing the entire district.

Illinoisans already suffer from a lack of choice in candidates. Research shows an average of 4.7 million Illinois voters had no choice in their state representative between the 2012 and 2020 election cycles.

Research shows more choice drives voter participation and makes legislators less susceptible to the influence of lobbyists and special interests. Lightly contested elections also tend to skew policies in favor of powerful special interests.

Illinois should consider reforms that will give voters more choices at the ballot box, such as making it easier for independents to enter the general election like they do in Iowa, Wisconsin and Tennessee.

Until that happens, Illinoisans will continue to see elections with too few choices and too much influence handed to those already in power.

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Illinois

2 men shot, 1 fatally, outside bar in Morris, police say

Published

1 day ago

March 2, 2026

Press Room

2 men shot, 1 fatally, outside bar in Morris, police say

MORRIS, Ill. (WLS) — A man was killed and another was injured in a shooting outside of a bar in Grundy County.

The shooting happened early Saturday outside of Clayton’s Tap in the 100 block of West Washington Street in Morris, Illinois, officials said.

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The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, where they found two men with gunshot wounds. One was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was taken to a hospital in critical condition.

The victim who died was identified by the Grundy County Coroner’s Office as 35-year-old Julian Rosario of Channahon.

A suspect in the shooting, 22-year-old Marshall Szpara of Seneca, was arrested and “initially charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a firearm, pending further review from the Grundy County States Attorney’s office,” Morris police said.

No further information was available.

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