AN UNFAIR BURDEN
Cook County failed to value homes accurately for years. The result: a property tax system that harmed the poor and helped the rich.
By Jason Grotto
PUBLISHED: JUNE 10, 2017
Chicago has long been a city divided by race and class, a metropolis with starkly different crime rates, economic realities and educational opportunities depending on where you live. But there’s another division in Chicago and Cook County, one that for years has gone unexamined even as it pits rich against poor.
An unprecedented analysis by the Tribune reveals that for years the county’s property tax system created an unequal burden on residents, handing huge financial breaks to homeowners who are well-off while punishing those who have the least, particularly people living in minority communities.