StripMallGuy’s Post

Thank you for sharing. Chicago and Cook County are incredibly overtaxed. Unfortunately, the entire State of IL has a long history of corruption with many of our governors (from both political parties) going to jail. The fact that the unions (also often corrupt) have such a stronghold on the City, does not help. We must demand more for our money. We have to be able to honestly point out corruption, inefficiencies and waste across both parties without being considered a trader, sellout, etc.. The CTA , CPS, and many other government organizations are a mess and need dramatic overhaul. We must be able to question the teachers' union, as we are paying so much more as a percentage of our property taxes towards education, yet our CPS students often graduate without being able to read. NO BLANK CHECKS, NO TENURE and CAP ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS AND SALARIES AS A PERCENTAGE OF THE TOTAL BUDGET. The sad part is that it doesn't take much to change course and make this great city even better.

I'm a native Chicagoan. Spent the majority of my life there. This is one of the reasons why we call Cook County "Crook County". My Mom still lives there and, even with the senior exemption, the property taxes on her townhouse are almost $25K a year.

I have owned a strip center in Cook County for the past 15 years. During this time, the rent has rarely increased. In fact, at most renewals, the rent has decreased. In some cases, the rent per square foot is even less than the combined tax and CAM.

Spend money, add value, increase rents, get hit with a reassessment that negates all the work. Why bother improving properties out there?

It’s a ridiculous tax system. Properties are reassessed every three years to “market value”. It’s common to see multifamily properties with taxes at 10-15% of the GSI. However, this uncertainty leads to undervalued properties in IL. Rent growth is phenomenal, and you can buy great RE for a fraction of the price of properties on the coasts. Play the system and appeal your taxes every year, it’s the only way.

I live in "crook county". My property taxes are about 2% of my home value. This includes the fact that we have passed referendums for the school district to do major upgrades for Air Conditioning in all schools as well as improvements to school entrances for better security. As a homeowner, 70% of my taxes are for the schools and I'm more than ok with paying that expense for my own kids and well as future generations to utilize.

Chicago has 150+ TIF districts that siphon money away from the general fund. As I understand it, this is a huge factor in the high property tax burden as the amount that these TIFs siphon off for government needs is sizable (over $500M in 2007 and certainly well over $1B now) and necessitates hiking the overall property tax rate to make up for the lost revenue. https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/the-government-is-lying-to-you/

Timely post as we just received another wave of new assessments and second installment tax bills 🤮. We have a lot of redeeming qualities, but RE taxes here suck…no doubt about that. Thankfully, not usually to that extent for multifamily

Can you provide your math for 8%?

Schools are funded through property taxes. No checks or balances, school budget comes in, checks go out. Illinois has multiple layers of government, all have expenses that need paying. Where I live we have the these layers: State, County, School District, Park District, Township, City. Commercial properties pay the lion’s share of taxes, 25% of assessed value vs 10% of assessed value for residential ($400k house still pays $10k/yr). Properties are valued based on last loan, sale or average per sqft of what’s similar or around. Data centers pay based on MW used. For someone that wants to buy or sell property in Cook County/Chicago they need an expert.