Why are property taxes in Chicago so high? (And what can be done to lower them)

Chicago property taxes increased by roughly $468 million in tax year 2021, with the median residential property tax bill in the city rising by roughly 8%. What caused this increase? Who (or what) bears responsibility? And what, if anything, can be done to lower property tax bills?

Join Dan Snow, Director of Data Science at the Cook County Assessor’s Office, for a deep dive on Cook County’s property tax system. He’ll provide a crash course in how the system works and outline the root causes of higher tax bills. Additionally, Dan will introduce a new tool created by the Assessor’s Office that can explore “what if” property tax scenarios. Using this tool, he’ll examine potential high-impact policy solutions to high property taxes. If you’ve ever wanted a data-driven answer to the question, “What would my property tax bill be if Chicago had no TIF districts?”, then this talk is for you.