Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas sending more than $47 million in automatic refunds to homeowners


Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas sending more
than $47 million in automatic refunds to homeowners

More than 53,000 property owners who overpaid their First Installment taxes last year will automatically get back more than $47 million in refunds starting this week.

“If you have a refund coming, we’ll find you and return your money,” Pappas said. “By putting refunds on automatic pilot, we’re eliminating a lot of unnecessary paperwork and applications.”

More than 58 percent of the refunds will be deposited directly into property owners’ accounts over the next three months. See if you’re due an automatic refund by visiting
cookcountytreasurer.com. Select the purple box labeled “Your Property Tax Overview” and enter your address or 14-digit Property Index Number (PIN).

Here’s a breakdown of some refunds:
• 16,629 homeowners who paid their property taxes online will see a total of $14.8 million electronically deposited to their bank or credit card accounts

• 22,241 homeowners who paid their taxes through a bank/mortgage escrow account will be mailed refund checks totaling $14.8 million

• 14,137 homeowners who paid taxes totaling $17.4 million in cash or by check will receive an electronic refund or will be mailed a refund application to ensure the
proper party receives the refund

Most of the refunds will go to homeowners receiving property tax exemptions, which are applied to the Second Installment tax bill and reduce the total taxes due. The exemptions include: Homeowner, Senior Citizen, Senior Freeze and Disabled Persons. Second Installment 2021 property tax bills were due on December 30, 2022.

Pappas launched the automatic refund program in July 2018. Since then, more than 174,000 property owners have received about $129 million in refunds without having to fill out an application.

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