Photo of the Cook County Treasurer’s Office by the Chicago Tribune, 2018

Cook County is the government entity that oversees the second-largest property tax collection and distribution system in the United States. Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas is responsible for:

(1) Printing and mailing bills based on the data provided by other county and state agencies on assessments, exemptions and tax rates;

(2) Collection of $12 billion each year in taxes from the owners of more than 1.8 million parcels of property; and

(3) Distribution of the tax funds to approximately 2,200 local government agencies that have the jurisdiction to collect taxes. The agencies include school districts, villages, cities, townships, park and forest preserve systems, libraries, public health and safety agencies, election authorities, economic-development agencies and bonds to pay for public-works projects