CHICAGO: Owners of homes and other real property will receive their property tax bills with bigger print hereafter. They have been redesigned in such a way that they are easier to read on a bigger page giving owners more key information, according to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas .
Pappas’ office mailed bills in the first week of July for the 2nd Installment of tax year 2012 on more than 1.7 million parcels of property across Cook County. The due date is August 1.
Pappas’ office increased the physical size of the bill from 8 ½ by 11 inches to 8 ½ by 14 inches to make it easier to review all the information on the bill. The larger type is used to better show the “Taxing District Breakdown” listing, the governmental bodies which tax a home, business or land and their share of the bill.
The new bill also has a revised Tax Calculator that shows how the bill was calculated and exemptions applied, and provides an “Important Messages” box giving information specific to that Property Index Number, such as: Tax payments to be made by mortgage company escrows; prior-year tax delinquencies; current-year refunds due; last payment received, tax abatements and tax increment financing districts.
“Making the numbers more legible on a larger page gives taxpayers a clearer and deeper look at what goes into their bill,” Pappas said. Payments can be made from savings and banking accounts at cookcountytreasurer.com at more than 400 Chase Bank locations across Chicagoland and at more than 200 participating community banks.
Suresh Shah
