West Cook News

In July, County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced that the second installment of Cook County property tax bills would be delayed, and there are still multiple steps that need to be completed before the bills can be sent out, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.  Preckwinkle spokesman Nick Shields said that the process should be complete by “the end of 2022."

Bob Fioretti, Preckwinkle's opponent in the November election for Cook County Board of Commissioners President, is putting the blame on Preckwinkle.

"In 2018, Toni Preckwinkle ran her campaign for re-election highlighting her ability to provide taxpayers with timely tax bills. Now, just four-years later, Cook County property tax bills that should have been issued during the June – July time period, and paid in August, are now projected to be delayed until early 2023," Fioretti said. "Toni Preckwinkle must account for her utter failure on this major issue and take responsibility for her complete lack of leadership. No more excuses!"

The Cook County Assessor’s Office is blaming the delay on a new data system, according to  global tax services firm Ryan. This new system apparently delayed the transmission of the final 2021 real estate value assessment data from the Assessor's Office to the Cook County Board of Review by several months. Typically, the second-installment property tax bills are sent out in June and due by Aug. 1.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported the delays are because of the assessment process and a computer system upgrade, which involves replacing a 1980s computer system with modern equipment. 

Cook County has been able to meet the Aug. 1 deadline every year since 2011, with the exception of a two-month delay last year, which was blamed on COVID, according to the Sun-Times. Some officials, including Board of Review Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr., are blaming first-term Assessor Fritz Kaegi for implementing the new data system.

Rogers said, “This is squarely in Kaegi’s lap. This is purely an implementation failure. He is the reason tax bills will go out late. He has failed to get his work done timely. He needs to own it.”

A spokesperson for Kaegi stated, “These are unavoidable delays. The county was very aware of it.”

Fioretti represented Chicago’s 2nd Ward on the City Council from 2007 to 2015, according to Ballotpedia.