With first installments of property tax bills for the 2020 tax year now in the mail, property owners will have until spring to make their payments.
According to Oak Park Township Assessor Ali ElSaffar, the bills indicate that taxes are due on March 2, but he said taxpayers can pay them as late as May 3 without having to pay any interest or late fees.
“Ordinarily, property owners who do not pay their taxes on time have to pay interest of 1.5% per month after the due date,” ElSaffar said. “Since the coronavirus pandemic has caused financial hardship for many taxpayers in Cook County, however, the Cook County Board of Commissioners voted to allow taxpayers to pay as late as May 3 without having to pay interest.”
Each property’s first installment bill will be 55% of the property’s total tax bill for the previous year. The amount due on the second installment will be the total annual tax bill for each property, less the first installment payment. Second installment tax bills are expected to be mailed out this summer.
ElSaffar said taxpayers should note that first installment tax bills will not reflect homeowner, senior citizen or other tax exemptions, nor will they reflect the impact of appeals and reassessments for the 2020 tax year. Exemptions, reassessments and successful appeals will instead appear on the second installment bills, along with the effect of changes in local government tax levies.
ElSaffar said taxpayers who normally receive an exemption will not have to renew them this year due to a special pandemic-related law.
“For this year only, the senior freeze, disabled veteran and disabled person exemptions will be automatically renewed,” ElSaffar said. “In addition, automatic renewal of the homeowner and senior exemptions, which was in effect before the pandemic, will continue.”
Seniors who are struggling with paying property taxes can defer payment of those taxes until their homes or condominiums are sold, ElSaffar said. The Senior Citizen Tax Deferral Program allows seniors to defer as much as $5,000 of their property tax bill every year.
To qualify for the deferral program, seniors must have an annual household income of less than $55,000, have equity in their homes that exceeds the sum of property taxes deferred and have lived in their homes for at least three years. Two-flats and other properties that generate rental income are not eligible for the program. Applications must be submitted by March 1.
If money for property taxes is paid into an escrow account with the taxpayer’s mortgage company, the financial institution should receive the tax bill electronically, even if the taxpayer also receives a copy of the bill.
“Taxpayers with property tax escrows held by their mortgage companies [should] not pay property taxes on their own,” ElSaffar said. “If they do, an overpayment of property taxes may result.”
Property tax bills can be paid by mail or online at www.cookcountytreasurer.com. Those wishing to pay in person can do so downtown at 118 N. Clark St. or at any Chase Bank branch. Chase bank branches in Oak Park are located at 800 Madison St. and 1048 Lake St., while the River Forest branch is located at 630 N. Harlem Ave.
Those with questions about property taxes, exemptions or the deferral program can call ElSaffar’s office at 708-383-8005.
sschering@pioneerlocal.com
Twitter: @steveschering
