Second installment property tax bills were mailed out to Cook County residents on July 1, and are due on Thursday, August 1. The second installment tax bill is also when exemptions are applied.
If you are a senior citizen in Wheeling Township who has historically received the Senior Freeze exemption, you may have noticed a mistake when you received your latest bill. Due to an unexpected glitch, roughly 3,600 Senior Freeze recipients were mailed bills that did not reflect that exemption.
The good news is that a plan is already in place to fix this issue! In response to the error, Assessor's Office immediately reissued corrected bills to those affected. If you received a corrected bill, that is the one that should be paid and the first, incorrect bill can be ignored.
If you already paid the incorrect amount, you will be issued a refund. This refund will arrive in the form of a check from the Cook County Treasurer, or a refund to your escrow account if that is the method by which your property taxes are paid. Refunds can take up to eight weeks.
I encourage residents to double check their property tax information - including the status of exemptions - via the Cook County Tax Portal. If you believe you are missing an exemption that you are owed, you can file a Certificate of Error with the Assessor's Office.
Should you, or someone you know, have any questions related to your tax bill please feel free to reach out to my office. We are happy to assist you.