More than 10,000 residents of Cook County can expect to receive automatic refunds due to overpayments of their property taxes, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas announced Tuesday.
The treasurer plans to send out more than $22 million in refunds by Aug. 9. Over half of the 10,099 property owners will have the funds directly deposited back into their accounts, while the remainder will receive paper checks in the mail.
Most of the overpayments were due to property tax exemptions that many homeowners are entitled to, which include exemptions due to disabilities or senior citizen status, Pappas said.
Homeowners in Cook County made their first installment of property tax payments for 2023 on March 1 of this year. The second installment is due on Aug. 1.
“For many senior citizens and others, the value of tax breaks known as exemptions is greater than the amount of property taxes they were billed,” Pappas said in a statement. “Since they already made a First Installment payment in March, they are entitled to refunds that we send automatically as a convenience for taxpayers.”
Those entitled to a refund will for the most part not have to file any paperwork to receive it.
Residents can visit the website of the Cook County Treasurer to view whether they will receive an automatic refund. Pappas advised people visiting the website to click on the purple box labeled, “Your Property Tax Overview” and enter either their address or their 14-digit Property Index Number.
