On Feb. 15, 2006, the Cook County Board voted in support of Assessor James Houlihan’s proposal for a 6 percent reduction in apartment assessments levels for Class 3 multifamily properties.
Many understand, and Cook County Board President John
Stroger agrees, that the county’s current property tax system -- where
multi-family buildings are assessed over 62 percent higher than single-family
residential properties -- is in desperate need of an overhaul. The Cook County
Board took an important step towards alleviating the disparate tax burden on
apartment owners and renters in the county by passing Assessor Houlihan’s proposal
to lower the assessment level
for Class 3 properties from 26
percent
to
20 percent.
With a 27 percent loss of apartment buildings and a 52
percent gain in condominiums from 1994 to 2003, Cook County is hemorrhaging
rental options. This has serious implications for low-income and working-class
families who can not afford to purchase a home, employers needing a strong local
workforce, and seniors who do not want to leave their communities when they are
no longer able to maintain or afford to own their home. While many municipal
leaders are attempting to provide more housing options, they are quickly finding
that both building new affordable homes, especially rental property, and
preserving and rehabilitating the existing stock is very difficult due to land
prices and property taxes. Consistent with efforts by the Metropolitan
Mayors Caucus Housing Task Force and the State of Illinois’ Comprehensive
Housing Plan, this amendment to the Real
Property Assessment Classification Ordinance
will improve housing options in Cook County,
particularly for those families whose only option is to rent.
This amendment will phase in this reduction for Class 3,
lowering the assessment from 26 to 24 percent in 2006, to 22 percent in 2007,
and to 20 percent in 2008. Several organizations and individuals came to testify
in support of this proposal, including the Metropolitan
Planning Council
,
Chicago Rehab Network, Chicagoland Apartment Association, Community Investment
Corporation, Evanston Ald. Edmund B. Moran
, and Chicago Community Development Corporation.
While
Cook
County
and the
Chicago
region are still in need of relief from the state’s over reliance on property
taxes to fund public schools, this proposal creates more of a level playing
field for all county tax payers.