Cook County property taxes

Counties across the US are mostly funded by property taxes.  If communities within the county decline, and/or costs continue to go up, a county's revenue base is threatened.  Cook County, Illinois, which encapsulates Chicago, has had property tax issues for some time.

High property taxes, higher taxes proportionately on properties owned by lower income households, graft in property tax appeals ("Powerful Chicago official charged with corruption," "County property tax official running for sixth term rakes in cash from appeals industry," Chicago Tribune), and increased number of vacant properties not paying taxes are just some of the issues.

Crain's Chicago Business has an article, Cook County's property tax system is complex and burdensome. Here’s how it can be fixed," listing 7 policy options.

1. Create circuit breakers 
2. Get vacant properties back on the tax roll
3. Increase assessment frequency
4. Reduce government spending
5. Raise other taxes
6. Implement a 'millionaire tax'
7. Address appeals 

I didn't think the solutions were particularly amazing.  Circuit breakers are homestead tax credits.  The article focused on amounts that were pretty minimal.  Some areas of the county have as low as 50% collection rates, because of the high number of vacant properties.  

The County has a lot of different agencies funded in large part by property taxes, and the article suggests perhaps some could be consolidated.

The County has also initiated a reinvestment plan in some of the communities with lagging collection rates, but it's had minimal impact--one property! (Transforming Places).

Once again, this reminded me of the pathbreaking program in Hennepin County, Minnesota, where declines in property tax assessments in Minneapolis, then a declining city, were increasingly worrisome, with potential significant worse outcomes in the future.

Hennepin did an analysis of Minneapolis, and identified the factors that separated the stable neighborhoods from those that were declining.  They created a revitalization program focused on Minneapolis, to turn declining neighborhoods into successful and stable ones.  This journal article, 

"A COUNTY AND ITS CITIES: THE IMPACT OF HENNEPIN COMMUNITY WORKS," Journal of Urban Affairs (2006), describes the program.  What they found is that housing in areas by parks, rivers, and lakes retained the most value.

Faced in the nineties with a growing imbalance between the declining prosperity of its core city (Minneapolis) and suburban municipalities, Hennepin County, Minnesota, pioneered a different path. In 1994, Hennepin County launched an urban redevelopment program, “Hennepin Community Works” (hereafter HCW) that clearly supplemented the more common models of county activity. HCW devised an entirely new redevelopment role for the county, and has consequently had a major impact on Minneapolis and its suburbs. 

Since its inception, Hennepin County commissioners have committed close to $200 million of infrastructure spending into a targeted redevelopment program with five goals: (1) to enhance the tax base; (2) to reshape troubled neighborhoods; (3) to improve transportation within the county; (4) to protect and develop green space; and (5) to create new jobs. While much of the U.S. urban past since the eighties has featured decreasing levels of public sector funding and involvement with urban affairs, Hennepin County voluntarily took on substantial additional financial and political commitments with this program

... HCW began here in 1994 as a public works program initially intended to address declining property values. Since then, HCW has significantly transformed portions of the county through major housing, transportation, parks, and environmental restoration investments. Through 2008, HCW launched nineteen projects, totaling $197.5 million in investments.

Later it was matched by a couple of complementary reinvestment initiatives by Minneapolis, which furthered the impact of HCW and now Minneapolis is thriving.

I have a set of entries on suggesting revitalization programs for East County Montgomery County, Maryland, Pontiac Michigan, and St. Louis.

As I stated in the article about Pontiac, I am embarrassed that as a former resident of Oakland County, it never occurred to me that one of the wealthiest counties in the US should have created a specific revitalization program for Pontiac.  Although the county was one of the first in the US, to create a Main Street commercial district revitalization program to support the various smaller towns across the country.

-- St. Louis: what would I recommend for a comprehensive revitalization program? | Part 1: Overview and Theoretical Foundations," 2021
-- "St. Louis: what would I recommend for a comprehensive revitalization program? | Part 2: Implementation Approach and Levers," 2021
-- "Revisiting St. Louis revitalization planning in the face of population shrinkage," 2023

-- "Pontiac Michigan: a lagging African American city in one of the nation's wealthiest counties," 2022

-- "Social urbanism and equity planning as a way to address crime, violence, and persistent poverty: (not in) DC," 2021 

-- "East County, Montgomery County, Maryland: Council redistricting spurs ideas for revitalization | Part 1 -- Overview," 2021

Cook County needs a similar program.  The current program, which has led to the rehabilitation of one property, is obviously a failure.  But a quick Google search shows a number of revitalization programs.  Obviously, they need to focus, while also address the property tax conundrum.

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In DC, my experience was that additions to transit infrastructure done right had the most and fastest impact on neighborhood revitalization.  Chicago and Cook County, though served by heavy rail and bus transit, as well as commuter rail service, like most everywhere, still has opportunities for transit improvement, and that should be leveraged as part of a "Cook County Works" program.