Collection Rates for Tax Year 2022

Introduction

The Treasurer’s Office last year released its first newsletter on property tax collection rates in Cook County, showing that an overall high collection rate for the entire county masked the perilously low rates in many financially strapped south suburbs.

One year later, the collection rate picture remains largely the same — the county’s high collection rate has held steady at about 96%, while economically struggling communities in 15 south suburbs and west suburban Maywood have collection rates below 85%, with five falling below 65%. That makes it difficult to provide vital services, like police and fire protection, as well as safe drinking water.

Collection rates on vacant land continue to hover around a low 71%, with taxes on thousands of those properties going unpaid year after year.

Still, a more granular analysis of Treasurer’s Office data reveals a slightly lower collection rate on residential properties compared to last year, and significant collection rate increases and decreases in several Cook County suburbs and Chicago community areas.

Background

The Treasurer's Office bills and collects property taxes for all local taxing districts in Cook County. For the 2022 tax year, which was billed in 2023, those districts sought a total of $17.6 billion from owners of nearly 1.8 million properties. Bills were mailed in late October 2023, with a due date of Dec. 1, 2023.

The office analyzed how much money was collected 31 days after bills were due. It compared those collections to those from previous years at the same point in the collection cycle.

Historical trends indicate the collection rates are likely to rise until they peak at about 99% during the Annual Tax Sale, which can lead to the loss of one's property. That sale is held about 13 months after bills are past due.

An analysis of Treasurer’s Office data from tax year 2017 to tax year 2021 shows the threat of a tax sale motivates property owners to pay.

During the 11 months following the 31 days-past-due mark, between 2.2% and 2.8% more of the total amount due was collected. In the month before the sale, between 0.06% and 0.27% was collected, and during the sale, tax buyers paid between 0.23% and 0.43% of the total amount owed. After that, even smaller fractions of what’s still owed trickle in.

View the Data

Use the data dashboard to find collection rates for Cook County municipalities, Chicago wards and community areas, and county taxing agencies for the 2022 tax year 31 days after payments were due.

Countywide

As of Jan. 1, 2024, the county collected 96.08% of property taxes billed for tax year 2022.

That collection rate is in line with those of the previous four years, when they ranged from 95.7% to 96.3% (Table 1). [1]

Table 1: Countywide Collection Rates 31 Days After Due Date
Tax Year	Amount Billed	Amount Collected	Collection Rate
2018	$14.94 Billion	$14.34 Billion	96.01%
2019	$15.56 Billion	$14.94 Billion	96.02%
2020	$16.10 Billion	$15.40 Billion	95.67%
2021	$16.71 Billion	$16.10 Billion	96.29%
2022	$17.62 Billion	$16.93 Billion	96.08%

Collection rates increase by a couple of percentage points from the time they are due until the tax sale is held. The countywide rates for prior years currently stand at more than 99%. Because some downward tax bill adjustments result from appeals after bills are mailed, the collection rate for the original amount billed will never reach 100%, even if all property owners paid their taxes.

Tax year 2022 collection rates for most types of property — including commercial and industrial properties, apartment buildings, condominiums and single-family homes — were 95% or higher. The exception was vacant land, which had a collection rate of 71.3%.

Currently, the owners of about 25,000 vacant lots have made no payments in tax year 2022 — more than one third of vacant lots in the county. Most of these lots are chronically tax delinquent. Nine out of 10 have been offered at multiple tax sales in the past decade, and more than half appeared in the 2022 Scavenger Sale of properties with delinquencies in at least three of the last 20 years. About 70% have been classified as vacant lots for 20 years or more.

Countywide, the low collections on vacant land has little effect on the collection rate, because the total amount billed on those vacant parcels throughout the county was less than $122 million — about 0.7% of the total $17.6 billion owed. However, that low collection rate has a larger impact on some smaller south suburbs with large swaths of vacant land. In Ford Heights, nearly 25% of the total $4.3 million tax tab was billed on vacant land, and only 9.3% of that was paid.

Collection rates for the 2022 tax year varied by less than 1% for most types of property from tax year 2021. The collection rate on residential properties decreased by 0.53%, while the collection rate on commercial and industrial properties slightly increased (Table 2).

Although the residential collection rate fell only by one-half percent, the total amount owed increased by $80 million.

Table 2: Tax Year 2022 Collection Rates by Property Class 31 Days after Due Date
Major Class	Taxable Properties	Amount Billed	Amount Collected	Collection Rate	Collection Rate % Change from 2021
Class 1 - Vacant	63,649	$121,810,594	$86,873,652	71.32%	-0.30%
Class 2 - Residential	1,590,145	$9,837,370,338	$9,471,351,408	96.28%	-0.53%
Class 3 - Multi-Family Residential	20,080	$1,049,206,768	$1,029,344,073	98.11%	-0.01%
Class 4 - Not-for-Profit	443	$24,357,096	$23,605,866	96.92%	-0.91%
Class 5 - Commercial/Industrial	91,819	$6,152,389,640	$5,880,554,674	95.58%	0.03%
Class 6 - Industrial Incentive	2,345	$250,118,408	$249,031,880	99.57%	0.36%
Class 7 - Commercial Incentive	329	$69,994,729	$69,985,568	99.99%	-0.10%
Class 8 - Comm./Industrial Incentive	1,733	$92,435,396	$94,588,336	102.33%*	6.27%
Class 9 - Multi-Family Incentive	989	$23,905,046	$24,497,491	102.48%*	2.53%

*In some property classes, more taxes were paid than billed in 2022. Property owners overpaid their taxes that had not yet been refunded as of Jan. 1, 2024.

Collections by Region

Cook County is divided into three regions for property tax assessments, with each region being completely reassessed every three years. The regions comprise the city of Chicago, all suburbs north of North Avenue and all suburbs south of North Avenue. All three regions saw a slight decrease in collection rates from 2021 to 2022 (Table 3).

Table 3: Tax Year 2022 Collection Rates by Region 31 Days after Due Date
Triennial	Taxable Properties	Amount Billed	Amount Collected	Collection Rate	Collection Rate % Change from 2021
City	833,531	$8,119,718,926	$7,833,145,851	96.47%	-0.36%
North	441,863	$5,391,937,843	$5,273,653,310	97.81%	-0.09%
South	496,138	$4,109,931,247	$3,824,540,711	93.06%	-0.15%

Property owners in the north suburbs, which were reassessed for Tax Year 2022, paid 97.81% of the taxes they owed, the highest rate among the three regions. This overall collection rate is about one tenth of a percent less than last year. The collection rate on residential properties, which had a median bill increase of 15.7%, dropped 0.6% from tax year 2021 to 97.5%. The collection rate for commercial and industrial properties increased by 0.8% to 98%.

The collection rate in the south suburbs fell by 0.15% to 93.06%, which remains the lowest among the three regions. The collection rate on the region’s 22,500 vacant lots was 56.1%. The south suburbs were reassessed for tax year 2023, which will be billed in 2024.

In Chicago, collection rates fell by 0.4% to 96.47%. Residential collection rates fell 0.7% to 96%, and the collection rate on vacant lots decreased by 0.5% to 75.8%.

Chicago Regions

Collection rates within the city varied greatly by region and community area. [2] Collection rates on the West and Southwest Sides increased, by 0.5% and 0.3% respectively. Collection rates on the South Side decreased by more than 2% from the previous tax year (Table 4). The falling collection rates in some South Side community areas exacerbate what are already the lowest rates in the city.

Table 4: Chicago Community Region Tax Year 2022 Collection Rates
Community Region	Taxable Properties	Amount Billed	Amount Collected (31 days after due)	Collection Rate (31 days after due)	Collection Rate % Change from 2021
West Chicago	129,372	$1,440,576,371	$1,382,289,209	95.95%	0.53%
Southwest Chicago	104,411	$493,556,923	$471,650,963	95.56%	0.34%
Central Chicago	116,352	$2,831,859,803	$2,772,087,727	97.89%	-0.28%
Northwest Chicago	148,403	$1,185,373,427	$1,147,299,318	96.79%	-0.68%
North Chicago	148,192	$1,551,444,365	$1,506,821,064	97.12%	-0.68%
South Chicago	91,426	$353,415,132	$313,643,204	88.75%	-2.02%
Far South Chicago	95,375	$263,492,905	$239,354,366	90.84%	-2.12%

Chicago Community Areas

Seven of Chicago’s 77 community areas saw an increase of at least 1%. Most were on the West and Southwest Sides, while Fuller Park, one of the city’s smallest community areas, also had a significant collection rate increase (Table 5).

Table 5: Top Chicago Community Area Tax Year 2022 Collection Rate Increases
Community Area	Taxable Properties	Amount Billed	Amount Collected (31 days after due)	Collection Rate (31 days after due)	Collection Rate % Change from 2021
Fuller Park	1,210	$2,843,615	$2,416,580.86	84.98%	10.09%
East Garfield Park	5,441	$21,649,394	$19,908,915.15	91.96%	3.16%
South Lawndale	10,488	$54,976,404	$51,819,714	94.26%	2.22%
Brighton Park	8,614	$42,013,565	$40,055,260	95.34%	2.05%
North Lawndale	8,029	$29,848,194	$26,097,047	87.43%	1.93%
McKinley Park	4,275	$31,699,452	$30,623,469	96.61%	1.89%
New City	11,501	$51,512,465	$47,920,163	93.03%	1.39%
West Elsdon	4,860	$18,686,156	$18,200,695	97.40%	1.29%

Higher collection rates on commercial and industrial properties helped spur the increases in these communities. In each of the communities with the highest collection rate increases, commercial and industrial collections ticked up by at least 2.4%.

Collection rates fell by more than 1% from the previous year in 28 community areas and more than 3.5% in 12 of them (Table 6). The largest drops occurred on the South Side.

Table 6: Top Chicago Community Area Tax Year 2022 Collection Rate Decreases
Community Area	Taxable Properties	Amount Billed	Amount Collected (31 days after due)	Collection Rate (31 days after due)	Collection Rate % Change from 2021
West Pullman	11,212	$14,822,610	$12,018,775	81.08%	-8.35%
Greater Grand Crossing	8,300	$25,139,399	$21,125,402	84.03%	-7.11%
West Englewood	11,395	$12,533,571	$9,151,219	73.01%	-6.74%
Englewood	8,689	$12,834,940	$9,131,916	71.15%	-5.65%
South Chicago	8,325	$17,700,750	$14,704,360	83.07%	-4.93%
West Garfield Park	4,352	$14,490,704	$10,528,046	72.65%	-4.86%
Riverdale	863	$3,230,344	$2,420,037	74.92%	-4.84%
Near South Side	21,911	$166,075,062	$155,339,002	93.54%	-4.27%
Washington Park	2,312	$10,631,709	$8,484,864	79.81%	-3.97%
Burnside	1,114	$4,473,384	$4,076,363	91.12%	-3.77%
South Deering	6,258	$17,087,172	$15,153,643	88.68%	-3.66%
Oakland	1,346	$7,315,632	$6,651,420	90.92%	-3.62%

Most of these communities have one thing in common: their residential tax base is shrinking. Nine of the 12 communities with the lowest collection rates had fewer residential properties in tax year 2022, and the collection rate on residential properties dropped in 11 out of the 12 communities.

Municipalities

The collection rate in most municipalities remained consistent in tax year 2022, increasing or decreasing by less than 1% from the previous year. Several suburbs saw significant collection rate increases; conversely, collection rates in some suburbs fell substantially.

Collection rates in nine of the county’s 135 municipalities increased by more than 2% in tax year 2022. Several of these municipalities were south suburban communities with historically low collection rates (Table 7).

Table 7: Municipalities with the Highest Collection Rate Increases
Municipality	Taxable Properties	Amount Billed	Amount Collected (31 days after due)	Collection Rate (31 days after due)	Collection Rate % Change from 2021
Phoenix	1,303	$2,712,609	$1,606,185	59.21%	12.99%
Country Club Hills	6,187	$51,275,918	$49,769,955	97.06%	9.83%
Markham	7,502	$56,217,881	$46,589,503	82.87%	9.09%
Robbins	4,002	$7,466,181	$3,926,390	52.59%	3.70%
Stickney	2,350	$17,829,434	$16,523,222	92.67%	2.89%
Hoffman Estates	17,393	$189,145,550	$187,023,731	98.88%	2.83%
Elgin	7,585	$52,848,879	$51,764,936	97.95%	2.33%
Calumet Park	2,967	$15,471,084	$12,085,734	78.12%	2.07%
Thornton	1,204	$10,925,262	$9,956,637	91.13%	2.05%

In Markham and Country Club Hills, new, large developments helped increase the overall collection rate. Amazon opened a distribution center on once-vacant land in Markham in 2022, which fueled a $20 million increase in taxes billed to commercial/industrial incentive properties. In Country Club Hills, the 1 million-square-foot Cubes development contributed to the jump in collections.

Phoenix, which had the highest collection rate increase, is a village with only 1,300 taxable properties. Increased payments from a handful of properties were enough to lift the collection rate on commercial and industrial properties by nearly 75%, bumping the community’s low collection rate considerably.

Collection rates for seven municipalities fell by more than 2% in tax year 2022.The highest decreases occurred in the south suburbs (Table 8).

Table 8: Municipalities with the Highest Collection Rate Decreases
Municipality	Taxable Properties	Amount Billed	Amount Collected (31 days after due)	Collection Rate (31 days after due)	Collection Rate % Change from 2021
Olympia Fields	2,129	$25,013,482	$22,106,233	88.38%	-5.53%
Glenwood	3,625	$23,724,544	$21,426,814	90.31%	-4.57%
East Hazel Crest	558	$4,721,742	$4,324,771	91.59%	-3.90%
Ford Heights	1,588	$4,281,196	$1,222,427	28.55%	-3.25%
Hillside	3,233	$37,788,253	$35,839,501	94.84%	-2.42%
Berkeley	1,897	$16,394,007	$15,535,834	94.77%	-2.13%
Forest Park	5,696	$50,045,175	$47,832,594	95.58%	-2.11%

School Districts

For this year’s analysis, the Treasurer’s Office calculated collection rates for each separate taxing district, including every school district. District boundaries often extend across multiple suburbs.

Most school districts saw collection rates rise or fall within one percent, but outliers exist, particularly in elementary schools.

Among elementary school districts, South Holland School District 150 had the largest collection rate decrease, collecting 89.26% of taxes it billed, 3.14% less than last year. Central Stickney School District 110, Dolton School District 149, Hazel Crest School District 152 1/2 and Morton Grove School District 70 also saw collection rates fall by 2% or more (Table 9).

Table 9: Top Elementary School District Tax Year 2022 Collection Rate Decreases
District Name	Taxable Properties	Amount Billed	Amount Collected (31 days after due)	Collection Rate (31 days after due)	Collection Rate % Change from 2021
School District 150	4,180	$9,569,354	$8,542,018	89.26%	-3.14%
School District 110	1,551	$5,259,332	$4,978,743	94.66%	-2.89%
School District 149	9,473	$17,331,384	$14,706,159	84.85%	-2.45%
School District 152 1/2	4,117	$7,242,165	$5,486,092	75.75%	-2.40%
School District 70	4,561	$13,827,112	$13,353,276	96.57%	-2.05%

At the same time, five elementary school districts saw increases of 2% or more. Calumet Public School District 132 saw a 4.1% rise in its collection rate, but that rate still remains low at 78.7%. West Northfield School District 31, Community Consolidated School District 168 in Sauk Village, Sunnybrook School District 171 in Lansing and Burnham School District 154 ½ also saw a 2% or more improvement.

Three high school districts had a collection rate decrease of 1% or more — Community High School District 231 in Evergreen Park, Thornton Township High School District 205 and Homewood-Flossmoor Community High School District 230. Thornton Township High School District 205’s collection rate of 78.6% remains lowest among high school districts.

Among consolidated school districts, which comprise both elementary, middle and high schools, Barrington Community Unit School District 220 and Community Unit School District 300 in northwest Cook County saw collection rate increases of more than 2% compared to last year.

Other Taxing Agencies

Taxing agencies typically have collection rates that mirror the overall rate in the communities where they are located – taxing agencies in a municipality with a low collection rate will have a low collection rate, and vice versa. For example, Homewood Public Library District collected a relatively healthy 92.86% of its taxes, just a slight difference from the 93.11% collection rate for all taxes billed in the village of Homewood. Conversely, Harvey Elementary School District 152 collected just 52.91% of its taxes, nearly mirroring a 51.68% collection rate for all taxing agencies in the city of Harvey.

Smaller agencies, such as Special Service Areas and Tax Increment Financing districts, may have highly variable collection rates year to year, as even a single property that does or does not pay can impact collection rates. On the other hand, larger taxing agencies typically have more stable collection rates.

The data dashboard above contains collection rate data for every taxing agency Cook County taxpayers see on their tax bills.

[1] The 31-day collection rates reflect the amount of money collected for each taxing district in the county, minus the amount refunded for various reasons, including bounced checks, duplicate payments and overpayments.

[2] The seven geographic regions for Chicago mirror those in the city’s 2023 We Will Chicago Framework Plan. [link]

— Christopher Silber, Treasurer’s Research Team

Published: Feb. 14, 2024