South suburban Chicago residents shocked by property tax increases

Glynis James-Watson moved from the affluent northern suburb of Evanston, Illinois, to the less affluent southern suburb of Harvey in 2021. He had just graduated from seminary and was hoping the move would lead to a pastor position.

“I felt like I needed to move here,” James-Watson said. “That’s how I’ll put it.”

The job he was hoping for didn’t materialize, but he’s still happy he moved. He lives in Harvey, in Chicago’s southern suburbs, where there are several abandoned buildings from the industrial past. Although there are aspects of the way the city is run that James-Watson finds frustrating, he loves living in his neighborhood. He liked his brown brick house and said his neighbors were welcoming.

“Everything was going well. And, you know, the payments were within my means,” James-Watson said. “Until recently I had no problems.”

Recently, James-Watson received its second tax bill installment. The increase was even above the average in the region. His bill was $8,170.39; That was seven times the $1,066.97 he paid for his first installment bill earlier this year.

“I was…stunned,” he said.

Many homeowners in Chicago’s south suburbs echoed James-Watson’s thoughts when they discovered their property tax bills had increased significantly this year. Depending on how steep the increase is, these higher tax bills can have serious economic consequences for homeowners. That’s the case in Chicago’s southern suburbs, where a record tax increase has surprised many residents. Property tax bills for the average homeowner here have increased nearly 20%; This was the largest increase in the last three decades.

Without intervention, some experts warn that many of Chicago’s south suburban communities find themselves facing a bleak economic future.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said it’s a common reaction to the latest property tax installments. The reasons for the increase are complex, he said.

“Most people don’t know that they pay 14 different governments,” Pappas said. “They have no idea.”

Every jurisdiction bills differently. Additionally, homes in the southern suburbs were recently reassessed. Other economic trends also contribute to property tax increases, such as residents tending to move and commercial investment in these neighborhoods decreasing over time. This means that property taxes increase when property values ​​do not increase. Fees for services such as public education are paid through bills or fees that the government issues to its citizens.

“Tax is just another name for a jurisdiction’s total tax bill,” said Chris Berry of the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation at the University of Chicago. “We can say that a particular jurisdiction collects this much property taxes.”

Berry likened the tax to a community bill shared among homeowners within a jurisdiction. The more people who live there, the more people there are to share the burden. When some people move, those who stay pay more.

He said the situation in Chicago’s southern suburbs is untenable.

“The tax base is shrinking, spending is increasing, and those two things can’t continue to happen at the same time for very long before a jurisdiction goes bankrupt or people move out,” Berry said.

Adding to the mix, the tax collection rate in this area also appears to be in trouble: from 2023 to 2024, there was a more than 27% increase in the number of homes in tax delinquency in the southern suburbs. So these taxes are not collected.

The tax increases hit black residents in the southern suburbs most severely. 13 of the 15 suburbs with the biggest property tax increases are populated by mostly black residents like James-Watson. Homeowners in these suburbs have seen their property taxes increase by at least 30%.

Berry said elected officials and residents have the power to turn this situation around: “It’s the elected officials’ job to set the tax in the short term. Each jurisdiction sets its own tax. “I would say it’s really up to the voters to determine whether they’re happy with these trends in the long run.”

Still, some of the reasons taxes are higher are contributing to opportunities for this part of Chicago, including recent adjustments in property valuations and declining business activity.

“The western suburbs and northern suburbs are already built,” said operator Bo Kemp. Southland Development Authoritya non-profit organization.

He thinks developers and the government shouldn’t overlook Chicago’s southern suburbs. “We present ourselves as the best opportunity for this type of growth that can be done in a way that preserves the heritage residents who have been here for 10, 20, 30, 40 years.”