Good Afternoon,

A friendly reminder that at 1:00pm on Monday, April 25^th there will be a Joint meeting of the County’s Finance Committee, Technology Committee, Assessor, Board of Review, Clerk, and Treasurer to discuss a potential late mailing of the second property tax installment bills.  If you have concerns about this, the proceedings can be followed here:

https://www.cookcountyil.gov/service/watch-live-board-proceedings

If you would like to speak or submit public comments on this matter please visit “County Finance and Technology & Innovation Joint Committee Remote Meeting Viewing and Participation Instructions at: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/TDPMBBG

Please note that registration to provide live testimony will close 24 hours prior to the scheduled start of the meeting.

The public comment link can also be reached here: https://cook-county.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?ID=955991&GUID=96E64A0B-DF33-496E-8150-E27FBD71EE31&Options=info|&Search=

If you have any questions or need further information please let me know.

Sincerely,

Good Afternoon,

As your County Commissioner I am aware of the potential for serious hardships to your local unit of government if there is a late mailing of the second installment property tax bills.  I am writing to let you know that I have just filed a Resolution for the Cook County Board to ask our Finance Committee for a Special Meeting, including the County Assessor, Board of Review, Clerk, Treasurer and Bureau of Technology at the earliest possible time. The purpose is to gain a better understanding of the issues, effects, and potential solutions to a late mailing of the second property tax installment. I have included my latest press release on this topic below.

Sincerely,

17th District, Cook County Commissioner Sean Morrison proposes financial remedy for local governments who face revenue shortfall from delayed second installment of property taxes

April 1, 2022

Orland Park, IL - A very real financial crisis could soon hit every government taxing body in Cook County. That’s because the Cook County Assessor’s Office could delay the second installment of the Cook County Real Estate Taxes up to six months and possibly into the first quarter of 2023. This delay in over $16 billion dollars in second half bills will force local government bodies to either draw down their reserves or borrow money with interest. This will have a massive financial impact on our municipalities, school districts, fire protection districts, police departments, park districts, public libraries, and everything in between.

Over seven months ago during county budget hearings, I raised the alarm of the likelihood of late tax installments and the effect they will have regarding the delay in the process of property tax certifications – due to the dramatically diminished amount of files being processed at that time. Aside from communications from Board of Review Commissioner Tammy Wendt’s office, my questions and communications were largely ignored from the various stakeholders.

Subsequently, I sent a letter in January 2022 requesting a special hearing of the finance committee to address this ominous issue. I was advised via letter, the issue is being addressed by a policy group under the Office of the President along with members of the Assessor’s office, Board of Review, County Clerk and Treasurer’s Office. I received no other actionable response on this item!

I, along with the public, have now learned via “the news media” that tax bills will be delayed up to six months or more. If these news reports are accurate, this will lead to local government taxing bodies across Cook County being forced to borrow funds to cover their pre-budgeted operating costs.

If this financial catastrophe occurs and Cook County is faced with a substantial delay in the release of tax revenues to local government bodies, then Cook County government should consider stepping in to address this issue.

Until such point in time as those stakeholders whose primary function is to provide for the on-time delivery of our property tax bill correct this problem, I have one immediate solution. Cook County government should consider setting aside up to $100 million dollars to provide for no/low interest short-term financing loans to our local taxing bodies.