Average property tax bills jump 3% in northwest Cook County

When Cook County property tax bills start arriving in the mail next month, the average homeowner in northwest Cook County can expect to see a bump of about $213 over what they paid last year.

That's according to tax rate data released Wednesday by County Clerk David Orr that shows local governments combining countywide to collect $700 million more than last year.

Orr's data shows an average 3 percent hike in Northwest suburban homeowners' property tax bills, rising from $7,118 to $7,331 for a house valued at $299,100.

Taxpayers in Barrington, Barrington Hills, Des Plaines, Prospect Heights and South Barrington can all expect lower-than-average increases, while Mount Prospect homeowners can expect the biggest jump due to a voter-approved tax hike for Mount Prospect Elementary District 57. The average tax bill in Mount Prospect is increasing by $515, according to the analysis of Orr's tax rate data.

Orr's report also acknowledges the increases could have been much steeper, but the value of the homeowner's exemption in Cook County alone increased $3,000 to $10,000 annually. That helped offset a 5.7 percent increase to the county's equalization factor. Without the increase in the exemption value, tax bills would have risen about 7 percent on average.

The full tax rate report can be viewed online at the clerk's website, www.cookcountyclerk.com.

Properties in Cook County are reassessed every three years depending on geography. South suburban properties were reassessed in 2017, Chicago properties are being reassessed this year, and North suburban properties will be reassessed again in 2019.

Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios' office assigns each township different appeals periods. A schedule of those appeal periods can be found at cookcountyassessor.com.