By Don DeBat

Dec. 9, 2025 – Financially squeezed and apparently abandoned by local government, the North Side’s senior fixed-income property owners are wondering if they will have to sell their homes and move to rental apartments or out of state in 2026 to avoid foreclosure and bankruptcy.

On November 14, after months of uncertainty and repeated delays, Cook County officials finally mailed the second installment of the 2024 property tax bills. Payment of the tax bill, normally due on August 1, has now been pushed to December 15.

For the 31st straight year, property taxes have gone up in Cook County. About 76 percent of homeowners will pay more on December 15 this year – with those in predominantly minority neighborhoods on the south and west sides facing dramatic increases, according to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.

“For the tax year of 2024, Chicago homeowners will pay $469.4 million more than they paid in 2023 because of the tax shift from commercial to other properties,” said Pappas (left).

The median residential tax bill in Chicago skyrocketed a wallet-biting 16.6 percent to $4,457, the largest increase in 30 years.

Much of the tax hike is attributed to runaway spending by local government. “Chicago public schools and other local governments are asking for half-a-billion dollars more than they did a year earlier,” Pappas said.

According to analysts at Jaken Finance Group, Illinois property taxes remain the second highest in the nation, with effective rates for residential properties averaging 2.27 percent of assessed valuation, compared to the national average of 1.07 percent. Only New Jersey, at 2.47 percent, has a higher rate. Cook County’s effective residential property tax rates now exceed 2.5 percent.

The Home Front learned that one senior “ma-and-pa” owner of a small income-generating property in Old Town experienced the following: The retired 81-year-old who resides in his brownstone four-flat disclosed his taxes rose a shocking 21.5 percent, to $33,566 from the $27,628 paid in 2023.

What is even more unbelievable is the 144.9 percent second-installment tax increase he received on November 14, totaling $20,157, is due on December 15, 2025, only an unforgiving two weeks after he received the bill in the mail. He paid $13,408 for the first installment on March 4, 2025.

The total $5,938 increase for 2024 would have been even more if it were not for the owner’s Homestead Exemption and Senior Exemption that saved $1,191.

What is most financially overwhelming to the senior owner – who lives on Social Security and a small pension – is the first installment of the 2025 property tax bill will be due three-and-a-half months later, on April 1, 2026. That estimated bill will be $20,157 plus 5 percent – or a total of $21,185.

And it is likely that the second installment of the 2025 bill – due on August 1, 2026 – will be a similar or larger amount as the first installment of 2025 taxes.

So, unless the owner files for – and wins – a Senior Freeze Exemption, it is possible the senior could be hit with a tsunami of three tax payments totaling a mind-boggling $62,527 within seven-and-a-half months!

The financially-battered Old Town owner also was hammered with a 59 percent fire insurance rate increase to $6,500 from $4,070 – even with a $10,000 deductible. As a result, the owner, who has resided in Old Town for 75 years, is contemplating selling and moving out-of-state.

Tax hikes up to 31.7 percent

A spot survey by the Home Front found several other ma-and-pa multifamily-building tax increases ranging from 19 percent to a crushing 31.7 percent on an assortment of small North Side apartment buildings.

Lincoln Park. A 65-year-old owner of a turn-of-the-century six-flat in the Old Town Historic District received a bill of $29,875 – up $4,765, a whopping 19 percent, over the $25,110 paid in 2023. The owner’s 91 percent second-installment tax increase received on November 14 totaled $16,064 and is due on December 15, 2025. The owner paid $13,810 for the first installment on March 4, 2025.

The owner’s tax bill was reduced by a Homestead Exemption of $662, which was reflected in the aggregate bill. The owner is currently applying for a Senior Exemption, which could save another $530.

The first installment of the 2025 property tax bill will be due on April 1, 2026. That estimated bill will be $16,064 plus 5 percent – or a total of $16,867. And it is likely that the second installment of the 2025 bill – due on August 1, 2026 – will be a similar or larger amount as the first installment of 2025 taxes.

So, it is possible the Lincoln Park owner could be hit with a mountain-sized bill of three tax payments totaling $49,798 within just seven-and-a-half months. The Lincoln Park six-flat owner also was slapped with a 35 percent insurance increase to $7,220 from $5,336 – even with a $10,000 deductible.

North Lincoln Square. A 70-year-old owner of a yellow-brick four-flat saw property taxes jump by 30.3 percent to $13,260 in 2025, up $3,078 from last year. The second installment, due December 15, 2025, increased by 94.4 percent to $7,659, while the first installment paid on March 4 was $5,600. The first installment for 2025, due April 1, 2026, is estimated at $8,042. The second installment, expected August 1, 2026, may be equal or higher.

Altogether, the owner could pay $23,743 in property taxes over seven-and-a-half months. Photo by Brandon Olafsson

Logan Square. A greystone four-flat owner north of Logan Boulevard faces a 31.7 percent increase in their property tax bill, rising from $13,272 in 2023 to $17,478 after a Homestead Exemption deduction. The second-installment tax jumped 179.6 percent to $10,178 (due December 15, 2025), with $7,300 paid for the first installment on March 4, 2025. The 2025 first installment, due April 1, 2026, is projected at $18,352 (including a 5 percent hike), with a similar or higher second installment expected by August 1, 2026.

Altogether, the owner may owe up to $46,882 within seven-and-a-half months.

Can you imagine the blowback if annual residential rental rates were increased to correspond with the property tax increases?

Apartment rents could soar

Obviously, rental experts say the impact of higher real estate taxes and soaring insurance costs are expected to spark large spring apartment rent increases in 2026.

Landlords hit with a hefty tax bill increase, soaring insurance premiums, and higher operating costs likely will be forced to boost spring rents to double-digit levels.

Chicagoland’s rental apartment occupancy rate hit a lofty 95.9 percent in September. In contrast to the relentless double-and-triple-digit property tax increases, advertised asking rents rose only a meager 3.9 percent in October, compared with the same period in 2024, reported Yardi Matrix.

Trying to explain the outrageous property tax increases, 40th Ward Alderman Andre Vasquez pointed to the significant assessment cuts granted to commercial properties downtown through appeals to the Board of Review.

“This year, Loop office and commercial properties saw a decrease of about $108 million in their property tax bills – which means residential properties are paying that cost instead,” explained Vasquez (left).” Photo by Paul Goyette

“However, if your assessment increased faster than other properties across Cook County, your share of the total tax burden likely went up,” said Vasquez.

42nd Ward Alderman Brendan Reilly said: “Thanks to Cook County’s broken property tax system, downtown commercial properties lost nearly $400 million in assessed value.” He says homeowners are now receiving letters from lenders “telling them their tax escrow is short by $2,300 or $4,000, with just a month to pay.”

“During a time when people are already struggling financially – with the federal government cutting benefits and reckless economic policies driving costs up – these increases are hitting people particularly hard,” said Vasquez.

While the City of Chicago did not raise its overall tax levy last year, noted Vasquez, residents of Chicago “have seen the largest levy increase from Chicago Public Schools, which also was a large contributor to bill increases.”

“I am deeply concerned about the effect this will have on the cost of housing in our neighborhoods, for both homeowners and renters,” Vasquez said.