Southland losing out on tax revenues

Low collection rate in south suburbs shows need for development, changes in Springfield

South suburban towns are leaving more tax dollars on the table than every other portion of Cook

County, according to a new study by the treasurer’s office that investigates municipal collection rates.

Only 86.4% of billed taxes owed by residents were collected by local governments in the south suburbs, according to the analysis of the recently concluded 2022 tax year, far below the average tax collection rate in Cook County of 96%. That means Southland towns are losing out on $185 million in funds for services such as public safety, education and infrastructure.

“It looks pretty doomy and gloomy,” Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said. “Low collection rates are a symptom of an underlying disease.”

The two leading diagnoses are residents who cannot afford to pay their taxes and vacant land that is not providing tax dollars, according to Pappas. Only the south suburbs and south Chicago are below 90% collection rate.

There are some actions that can help improve collection rate, such as increasing taxes sparingly and buying up vacant land, said Brad Bettenhausen, administrative and financial consultant for Tinley Park and finance director for the village for almost four decades.

“We have, over time, worked with the county to acquire some of the delinquent property parcels that go unpaid year after year after year,” he said. “We’re actively trying to clean out some of the deadwood where taxes get extended against property that never gets paid.”

Tinley Park has a collection rate of 97% while South Holland’s tax collection rate is 90.8%, which is higher than the average around the south suburbs.

Mayor Don DeGraff pointed to a variety of village ordinances