Sunday Daily Herald paper features comprehensive Cook County tax report

Sunday’s Cook County editions of the Daily Herald will include a 138-page comprehensive report detailing property tax levies and spending for all Cook County taxing bodies.

The report was created by Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office from data required to be submitted by the taxing bodies, she said.

Data for 24 agencies is not included. Pappas said that while law requires these agencies to report financial data, her office “can’t force them to comply.” The treasurer said she is working with legislators to pass a bill that would allow her office to withhold tax payments to agencies that do not report financial data in the future.

The report includes data up to 2010, the most recent year available, Pappas said. County Clerk David Orr’s office released property tax data for 2011 this week.

In addition to property taxes paid to the agencies for each of the past 10 years, the report also details the taxing body’s most recent operating cost, total debts, pension liability, unfunded pension liability, percent of pension program’s funding, investment rate of return and annual rate of salary increase for employees.

Pappas said the report will be published annually as required by a county ordinance.

More individual and comprehensive property tax data is available at cookcountytreasurer.com and cookcountypropertyinfo.com