Property taxes have increased every year in Illinois for the past three decades. For the 2026 budget season, legislators and executive powers are considering alternative solutions.
A tough budget season, marked by a $1 billion shortfall, kicked off in Chicago two months ago, leaving homeowners to wonder: Will the 2026 budget balancing lead to a property tax increase? Mayor Brandon Johnson said in late July this will not be the case.
As constituents wait for the Office of Budget and Management (OBM) and the Mayor’s Office to match available resources with budget requests from city departments, The Chicago Reporter looked at what legislators in Springfield have been doing to address property tax concerns.
TCR compiled House and Senate bills, including a proposal to eliminate the current property tax system in Illinois, as well as alternative ideas aimed at providing some relief. This is the second story in a series about the future of property taxes in Cook County.
Two parties, 161 bills
After three decades of property tax increases in Illinois, legislators are looking for alternative options to close the budget deficit.
The Illinois House of Representatives is currently considering at least 161 bills directly related to property taxes, under categories like “relief,” “equity,” “abatements,” “tax surplus,” “exemptions,” “senior freeze,” and others. “Exemptions” is the category with the highest number of proposed bills.
Illinois House Republicans have created the “Property Tax Relief” package—a collection of eight bills that deal with issues like exemptions, extensions and assessment limits.
Meanwhile, House Democrats have put together a working group, led by State Rep. Jehan Gordon-Booth (D), to review the property tax system in Illinois and discuss initiatives “that can deliver relief for middle-class families while ensuring communities and school districts have the resources they need.”
Seeking relief
State Rep. Mary Beth Canty (D), who is part of the Property Tax Working Group, told TCR in an interview that, even though incremental bills like the ones focusing on providing relief for seniors don’t solve the problem of high property taxes in Illinois, they are “small steps toward additional equity.” She added that disruptive initiatives aiming to reform the system take more time to implement. “Property taxes, especially when it comes to education funding, are really complicated and bigger than just one thing,” she said.
On the Republican side, one of the bills proposed as part of a property tax-relief package is HB0009, which proposes a program to use state revenue to award grants to school districts in Illinois, decreasing the amount of school funding needed from property taxes.
One of the sponsors of HB0009, State Rep. Dan Ugaste (R), told TCR the proposal would create a “win-win” situation for schools and taxpayers, and added that the measure would have provided approximately $2.8 billion in property tax relief to the citizens of Illinois this past year.
Steps toward equity
Last November, voters in Illinois supported a referendum recommending the imposition of a 3% income tax surcharge on millionaires. In January, Democrats introduced a bill imposing the additional percentage and establishing that the revenue “shall be distributed to school districts on a per pupil basis.”
“Tax policies like this help us to course correct,” said State Rep. Abdelnasser Rashid (D), who is also part of the Property Tax Working Group. “So that the state can make proper investments in education, primarily, but also in other local services to help relieve local taxpayers.”
Another concern among legislators is making assessments more accurate and fair.
House bills 1827 and 1829, for instance, require the property owner to include the physical description of their property and to submit their income and expenses to the Cook County Assessor’s Office as a way to ensure that owners pay an adequate and fair property tax amount, which helps improve equity.
State Rep. Rashid (D) told TCR he expects corporate lobby groups to fight against the proposals, but he said he remains hopeful.
Collaboration between parties
TCR asked State Reps. Ugaste, Canty and Rashid if the two parties collaborate in trying to improve the property tax system in Illinois. They said they would be open to doing it, but that it doesn’t happen in practice.
For instance, State Rep. Ugaste (R) said he knows of Democrats who are supportive of HB0009 but don’t appear publicly as co-sponsors of the bill. “They don’t share that with me, but my guess is that they’re concerned about what leadership may think,” he said. “It’s much harder for their leadership not to call or not allow a bill to be called if their own members are supporting it.”
State Rep. Rashid (D) said he would collaborate with anyone willing to “roll up their sleeves and work to provide tax relief,” and added that “this isn’t a time for political gains.” “ It’s time for us to get serious. And part of being serious means that we fight for a fair tax system, not just have Republicans complain about property taxes.”
Rep. Canty (D) told TCR she was unfamiliar with the legislative package for tax relief proposed by House Republicans since “they did not share very much information on their legislation.” Like State Rep. Rashid (D), she said she welcomes new ideas from the opposition. “If you’ve got an idea and you think this is really good for the people of Illinois, you should reach out,” she said. “We may not always agree that those are the best or the right ideas, but it might help us come to a place where we find an idea that we can both agree on.”
In the meantime, while Springfield analyzes proposed legislation with potential future impact in Chicago, Johnson and OBM will receive inputs from different city departments about their needs for the coming year, hear from the community and try to match those needs to available resources.
Johnson is scheduled to submit a proposed budget to the City Council by Oct. 15, followed by public hearings before a Final Action Plan is submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in December for funding consideration.
Freeze taxes if you lived in your home for at least 20 years.
Hello, I am one of the millions of residents in Chicago who have been paying pr0perty tax since we bought our house in 1990.. At first, we simply have to comply and pay the tax we receive from assessor’s office, because that is what the law was.. Now after paying tax for the property we own, we realize and said to ourselves, this looks NOT right paying tax on our own property.. Just before I wrote this message, I saw on a TV programs about eliminations of property tax from Florida and then from Illinois which I was so very HAPPY, because it has been my idea to ask the authorities who are responsible for taxing homeowners on their own property. I have been saying, why do they tax us on our own property?? We own it and the government has nothing to do with it. I believe President Trump promised sometime in the past that he will eliminate the taxes for the Social Security checks for Seniors and taxes on groceries and other items we buy from the store. I hope somebody can explain this problem to the Assessor’s office or to the Mayor or Governor who has all the power to make changes in our laws . Thank you very much.