Property Tax Reform
Challenge: The current property tax system brings in over $16B annually to government entities in the City of Chicago, Cook County, and numerous school districts and municipalities. The current system is complex and difficult to navigate, and privileged taxpayers can afford legal representation to navigate the system, which further exacerbates systemic inequity. Former Cook County Clerk David Orr details the significant overhaul of the Property tax System in The Sun-Times article “Cook County’s property tax system needs reform. Here’s how to fix it.”
Action: We are supporting the coordination of the Property Assessment and Tax Working Group (PATWG), convened by the Cook County Board President, and including representatives from their office, as well as the offices of the Cook County Assessor, Board of Review, Clerk, Treasurer, and State's Attorney. Together the group will undertake a systematic review of the County's overall assessment practices, and the use of property tax revenues. In 2023, we worked with the PATWG to develop a comprehensive multi-year implementation plan to ensure the property assessment and tax system produces predictable, accurate, fair, and equitable results in a timely and efficient manner.
Result: Civic Consulting Alliance delivered a comprehensive, multi-year implementation plan for the first phase of this effort. Now the PATWG has a plan that includes ten work streams that will evaluate the performance and impact of the property tax system, analyze the effectiveness of tools used to advance policy goals (e.g., exemptions), and assess the current organizational design of the system. In addition, we developed a decision-making process for the PATWG to align on potential policy reforms, as well as a template for an annual reporting mechanism to support public accountability.
The work continues: Civic Consulting Alliance is providing implementation support on specific work streams, most recently the improvement of public information access and customer support within the tax system with the goal to make the process more transparent and easy-to-navigate.