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Illinois Property Taxes Are Ridiculous. A 2021 Change Helps Some Seniors, But Cook County Assessment Scandals Add to Challenges

Person looking at a phone with a concerned look on their face.

Property taxes are a test of strength for most homeowners. For people on fixed incomes, rises in property values — and thus taxes — can be dastardly. Now, imagine people on fixed incomes who just happen to live in Illinois.

Illinois ranks #2, after New Jersey, for highest property taxes in the nation, according to a recent WalletHub analysis. The Illinois homeowner shells out an average of $5,000 in property taxes on a $217,500 house. That means people in Illinois pay double what the average homeowner pays in property taxes nationwide.

Some seniors can’t pay it, and have no way to earn the extra income. For them, there is a little extra relief coming this year — perhaps just enough to keep some of the most cash-strapped homeowners in their homes. More on this below.

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MyDec to be Required for All Cook County Illinois Real Estate Conveyances

Effective January 21, 2019, prior to recording, all Cook County property conveyance instruments must be accompanied by an electronically-completed Cook County Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration, aka, a “MyDec,” which can be completed via the Illinois Department of Revenue’s MyDec Transfer Tax Portal – https://mytax.illinois.gov/mydec The requirement to use MyDec is already in effect for all property transfers in the City of Chicago, and is being extended to all property in Cook County, including “exempt” and “non-exempt” transfers. This requirement does not alter any local municipal requirements for transferring property, and must be fulfilled, even if the instrument is accompanied by a Grantor/Grantee Affidavit.

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Transferring Real Property from an Illinois Estate

Find the Illinois laws for dealing with a decedent’s real property at 755 ILCS 5/20.

Probate is a court-supervised, lawful distribution of a deceased individual’s assets. The nature of the probate case depends on whether the decedent died testate (with a last will and testament) or intestate (without a will). In both cases, someone acts as the decedent’s personal representative and performs the tasks associated with settling the estate.

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