Homeowners Exemption on Property Taxes being Phased Out

I received my 2nd installment for my Cook County property tax bill and like many, was surprised to see it has gone up significantly despite the fact that property values have gone down.  We had our building reassessed so the taxes were suppose to be lower and while the taxes did go down, changes to the homeowners exemption have caused the overall payment to go up. 

After looking over their website and not finding any information on why there is less deduction on the home owners exemption, I called the Cook County Assessor to get to the bottom of it.  Apparently they are phasing out the homeowners deduction completely within the next few years.  This is bad news for all home owners who depend on that exemption to help lower their rising property taxes.

It would be nice if they stated this fact to explain why the taxes are going up. I had to call up to learn about it.  I did a search and confirmed that the home owners exemption is being phased out.  This change is going to mean higher property taxes for all Chicago residents in the near future unless they make some big changes.  With a struggling economy, this is just another unwelcome obstacle we must deal with.