Chicago homeowners face the highest property tax hike in 30 years — could this be just the beginning?

Affordability has become a major concern for Americans, and housing costs are a key factor in determining whether life in a city is affordable. Chicago is often known as one of the great American cities, but residents are facing a massive hike in property taxes, which is the biggest one in 30 years. According to an ABC report, the median residential bill saw an increase of more than 16%, according to the Cook County Treasurer's Office, which has been analyzing the new bills.

The office also said that citywide spending had increased, but there weren’t too many commercial spaces. The reason for this, as per Treasurer Maria Pappas, could be the sharp drop in the value of downtown commercial buildings. Such properties paid $129 million less this cycle of valuation. This valuation is carried out once every three years.

It turns out that a lot of these buildings offer spaces for rent, like apartments. But over the last few years, there has been a rise in vacancies. As a result, the burden of these tax increases fell on the owners of these buildings, who had no choice but to shoulder it all by themselves. With more residents in a building, a part of that tax money could have been paid collectively.

"It went down in a landslide, and it is coming back like a snail, slowly, very slowly, and not fast enough to handle the residents who carry the burden," Pappas said, before adding, "Because many went unrented. Many are unrented. The taxes went down. What happened was the residents ended up picking up the bulk of these tax increases." A study showed that the neighbourhoods most affected by this were those where people of color primarily lived. These taxes are due by December 15, which is not good news ahead of the holiday season.

In another ABC report, the residents most affected by his uptick in taxes let their thoughts be known. These residents had organized a "property tax bonfire" at Harmony Community Church in Lawndale. Lawndale resident Thomas Worthy said that he would have to pay a whopping $977 more than what he had paid the year prior.

"Tax increase is tied to a TIF that I have no idea why," Worthy said. "It's collecting money from our neighbors and streets, but we're not being notified why it's in the bill," he added. What is even more frustrating to residents is that these tax hikes are not leading to any notable investments in their neighborhoods. "There's been a divestment in this community for the most part, but it seems now that people have found an interest in reclaiming the neighborhood. Now we're being taxed for prosperity," Lawndale resident Milton Clayton said. 

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