Cook County homeowners in line for $47 million in automatic property tax refunds

Sun-Times file

Cook County homeowners who overpaid their property tax bill last year can expect to receive automatic refunds over the next three months.

Over $47 million in overpaid property taxes will be refunded to more than 53,000 county homeowners starting this week, the Cook County Treasurer’s Office announced Wednesday.

The automatic refunds are for property owners who overpaid on their 2021 first installment taxes, which were due in the first half of 2022.

The average refund is $883, according to treasurer’s office spokesman Andrew Gavrilos.

“If you have a refund coming, we’ll find you and return your money,” Treasurer Maria Pappas said in a statement.

More than 58% of the refunds will be deposited directly into homeowners’ bank and credit card accounts. Others will receive a check by mail.

Homeowners can check if they are getting a refund at cookcountytreasurer.com.

Why are some homeowners getting refunds?

Most of the refunds are for homeowners who left out tax exemptions during the first installment tax bill, but then applied those exemptions to the second installment tax bill, reducing the total taxes due. The most common missing exemptions were: homeowner, senior citizen, senior freeze and disabled persons, Pappas’ office said.

The refunds break down like this:

• 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 ban or mortgage escrow account will be mailed refund checks totaling $14.8 million; and

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

Pappas launched the automatic refund program in July 2018. Since then, 174,000 property owners have received about $129 million in refunds, her office said.