Chicago schools property taxes up 62% in 15 years

The median Chicago residence paid $2,059 in property taxes just to support Chicago Public Schools in 2024, 62% more than they paid 15 years ago. More than half of a Chicago homeowners’ property tax bill now goes to CPS.

The typical Chicago residence paid $2,059 in property taxes toward Chicago Public Schools last year, 62% more than they paid 15 years ago, according to an analysis of Cook County data.

It found Chicagoans contributed more than half of their property taxes to CPS in 2024. It was an increase of $790 for schools in 15 years. Included in that is an extra $299 dedicated to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund, a tax levy that was reinstated in the CPS budget in 2016.

In total, about 52% of property taxes paid by Chicago condominium and single-family homeowners last year went to fund CPS, an increase of three percentage points during the past 15 years.

The CPS operating budget in 2009 took 98% of the property taxes, but now is down to about 80%. What’s been added and taken more of the property taxes is the Chicago Teacher Pension Fund levy, which took 14% of the taxes in 2024.

The CPS budget for 2024 relied on $5.15 billion in revenue from local sources paid through property taxes, replacement taxes and other taxes – more than double what it needed to operate when it supported 83,974 more students in 2009.

Condominiums account for 1 in 5 residential properties, and their owners got hit harder by CPS than their peers with single-family homes. Condo taxes rose by $857 compared to $739 for houses since 2009.

The analysis tracked all single-family and condominium properties located in Chicago with market values between $25,000 and $2.5 million during 2008 and 2023. These property tax bills were assessed by Cook County during the respective tax year and paid the following year.

Illinoisans pay the second-highest property tax rate in the U.S., shelling out about 2.07% of their property’s value each year. That’s more than double the national rate.

It’s even worse in Cook and the collar counties. Cook County in 2022 ranked among the nation’s 100 most expensive for property taxes, with property taxpayers spending more than the typical homeowners in California’s Orange County, Los Angeles County or San Diego County.

In Illinois, a homeowner’s property tax bill is based on two primary factors: the assessed value of the property and the amount of revenue the local taxing districts request to operate the next year.

Think property taxes don’t matter to you because you rent? Wrong. Landlords pass on property tax costs through higher rent, so property taxes can significantly impact the affordability of housing for both homeowners and renters.

A growing share of property taxes have gone to government pensions, which continue eating more school and local government resources. Taxpayers’ contributions just to state pension systems have grown nearly 20-fold from $614 million in fiscal year 1996 to $11.2 billion in fiscal year 2025.

Illinois ended 2024 with an estimated $211 billion in unfunded state and local pension liabilities. That is about half of what will be needed, leaving Illinois with the nation’s worst funding ratio and biggest pension debt. It is at a level between what experts warn is “deeply troubled” and “past the point of no return.”

A “hold harmless” pension reform plan, such as one developed by the Illinois Policy Institute and based loosely on bipartisan 2013 reforms, could help eliminate the state’s unfunded pension liability and reduce homeowners’ property tax payments over time while providing retirement security for pensioners.

With nearly 3 in 5 Illinoisans believing the value of public services they receive are not worth the property taxes they pay, lawmakers should be pursuing structural reforms that prioritize property tax relief without compromising spending on core services or risking more residents leaving for lower-cost states.