First Cook County property-tax installment nears

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Updated: February 24, 2012 11:58AM

The 2011 first installment of Cook County property tax payments bills are due March 1.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas encourages paying online at cookcountytreasurer.com to avoid traveling during the winter season.

Payments received after March 1 will be charged a 1.5 percent penalty per month.

Property owners can pay:

Online at cookcountytreasurer.com, from a checking or savings account.

At more than 400 Chase Bank locations in the Chicago area.

From an account at some 200 participating community banks.

By mail with a postmark no later than March 1.

At the Cook County Treasurer’s Office in downtown Chicago,

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

Partial payments are accepted. All forms of payment require taxpayers to reference their 14-digit Property Index Number located at the top of each tax bill.

Many property owners have their taxes paid from an escrow account managed by their mortgage lender. 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.