Cook County Property Tax Bills Due March 1

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas reminds residents that the 2011 first installment property tax bills are due March 1.

All bills can be paid online at www.cookcountytreasurer.com to avoid traveling during the winter season, Pappas said.

“Paying online allows you to sit at a computer and avoid traveling through winter weather,” she said. “Your fingers do the walking, but you don’t.”

Property tax owners may pay their bills any of the following ways:

• Online from a checking or savings account. A $1 service fee will be charged.
• At more than 400 Chase Bank locations, .
• From an account at some 200 participating community banks,
• By mail with a postmark no later than March 1, 2012, and
• At the Cook County Treasurer's Office, 118 N. Clark St., Room 112, Chicago.

Payments received after March 1 will be charged a 1.5 percent penalty per month. However, partial payments are accepted, according to the county treasurer's website.

All forms of payment require taxpayers to reference their 14-digit Property Index Number (PIN), located at the top of each tax bill.

Many property owners have their taxes paid from an escrow account managed by mortgage lenders, but it is the owner's responsibility to ensure that the lender pays on the correct PIN before the due date.

Taxpayers can call 312-443-5100 for information in English, Polish and Spanish.

Want to know more about Cook County property taxes? Check out Patch's series, for an in-depth look at the county's complicated tax process: