If you buy a home in Des Plaines this winter, the tax numbers on your closing statement and your first bill will come from the tax year 2025 bill. That was the bill Cook County mailed around September 1 and made due October 1, 2026, about two months late because of the county's property-tax technology overhaul. It's also the first bill to reflect the 2025 reassessment of the north and northwest suburbs. For buyers choosing between a condo and a single-family home, that bill changed the math more for condos.
On the surface the numbers point the wrong way. The average tax rate in Des Plaines went down. Bills went up anyway, and condo bills rose by a larger share than house bills. To compare two properties fairly, you need to understand why.
The rate dropped by a tenth, and bills rose anyway
The Cook County Clerk's 2025 tax rate report, released September 23, 2026, puts the average composite rate for the City of Des Plaines at 7.965781% for tax year 2025, down from 8.872578% the year before. That's a 10.22% drop. Nearly every district on a Des Plaines bill cut its rate. Maine Township High School District 207 fell 12.82%, and the Des Plaines Park District fell 11.94%.
Bills still went up. Braverman & Makhlouf, a property tax law firm, compared each property's tax year 2025 bill with its 2024 bill using Cook County Treasurer data, and published the results on October 1, 2026. In Des Plaines the results were:
- Median single-family bill change: up $524, or 7.3%
- Median condo bill change: up $486, or 11.8%
- Share of homes whose bill rose 10% or more: 45%
The dollar increases are close, about $40 apart. The percentages aren't. A condo owner took almost the same dollar increase as a house owner, but on a much smaller bill.
Your bill follows your value compared with everyone else's
A lower rate and a higher bill can both be true because the rate is set after values change. Taxing districts ask for a dollar amount, and the county spreads it across all the assessed value in the area. When values across the north and northwest suburbs rose by about a quarter, the rate had to fall to raise roughly the same money. The Clerk's report puts the regional increase in total residential assessed value at 24.37%. Over the same period, the average north and northwest suburban rate fell 12.9%, from 9.180% to 7.996%.
So what decides your bill is how much your home's value rose compared with that regional average. The Clerk's report says so directly:
"It is important to note that an increase in assessment does not necessarily equate to an increase in taxes. Properties with assessment changes near the average increase or higher may experience tax increases. However, properties with assessment decreases, or increases of less than the average, may see a tax decrease."
The Clerk shows this with a sample north suburban home valued at $250,000 in tax year 2024. Each row applies a different assessment increase, then the new average rate:
| Assessment change in 2025 | 2024 bill | 2025 bill | Bill change |
|---|---|---|---|
| No increase | $6,004.41 | $5,268.29 | down 12.26% |
| Up 5% | $6,004.41 | $5,571.68 | down 7.21% |
| Up 10% | $6,004.41 | $5,875.07 | down 2.15% |
| Up 15% | $6,004.41 | $6,178.47 | up 2.90% |
| Up 20% | $6,004.41 | $6,481.86 | up 7.95% |
| Up 30% | $6,004.41 | $7,088.65 | up 18.06% |
In this example, the bill turns from a decrease to an increase somewhere between a 10% and a 15% assessment increase. Any property that rose much faster than that paid noticeably more, even with the lower rate.
Why condos ended up paying more
The Daily Herald reported in June 2025, when Maine Township's reassessment notices went out, that the Assessor's median estimated market value for a single-family home rose from $340,000 in 2022 to $403,000 in 2025, an 18.5% increase. The median condo estimate rose from $164,000 to $211,000, which is 28.7%.
Put those two figures against the Clerk's table. Single-family homes rose a little faster than the point where bills stop falling, so their bills went up modestly. Condos rose far faster, which put them on the steep part of the table. The Des Plaines medians match that pattern: 7.3% for houses and 11.8% for condos. Across Maine Township, the same comparison shows a 6.6% median increase for single-family bills and 11.8% for condos. In Elk Grove Township, which covers part of Des Plaines, it was 6.4% and 15.8%.
For a buyer, this changes how a condo's tax figure should be judged. Condos rose a lot in value over those three years, and the tax bill caught up with that rise all at once in 2025. Any tax figure from before this bill understates what owning that unit now costs.
Business appeals added to the homeowner share
Values weren't the only factor. The Cook County Treasurer's analysis of north and northwest suburbs found that residential taxes in the region rose $359.5 million, or 9.9%, while taxes on business property rose $3.7 million, or 0.2%. The median homeowner bill in the region rose 6.7% to $8,007.
Part of that gap comes from appeals. Braverman & Makhlouf's summary of the Treasurer's findings traces the steps. The Assessor's first 2025 values lowered homeowners' share of the region's assessed value from 65.8% to 64.1%. After appeals, that share was 67.8%. The Board of Review granted nearly $1.3 billion in reductions to commercial and industrial property, compared with about $397 million for homes. The Treasurer estimates that the region's homeowners took on about 2% more of the overall tax burden. The Assessor's office noted that Board of Review appeals cut commercial values by 14% in 2025, compared with 20% after the 2022 reassessment. That means the shift onto homeowners was smaller this time than last time.
The city's share is the smallest part of the bill
When a tax bill goes up, it's natural to look at City Hall. In Des Plaines, City Hall is a small part of the bill. The City's FY2026 budget breaks down a tax year 2024 bill for a Maine Township owner. School districts take 71.33% of it. The City of Des Plaines takes 10.39%, and the park district, water reclamation district, county, library and others split the rest. On a $4,000 bill, $415.61 goes to the city. The city's own levy rose 2.24% in the FY2026 budget, to pay for three new firefighter/paramedics and for police and fire pensions. A 2.24% increase on about a tenth of the bill can't explain an 11.8% jump.
The composite rate is also only an average. The Clerk lists districts that serve part or all of Des Plaines:
- Elementary districts 26, 57, 59, 62 and 64
- High school districts 207 and 214
- Harper and Oakton community colleges
- Four park districts, including Des Plaines and Mt. Prospect
- Maine and Elk Grove townships
Those rates moved differently. District 62 cut its rate 9.11%, while District 26 cut 15.83%. The Mt. Prospect Park District raised its rate 11.13%. Two homes with the same price in the same city can carry different rates depending on which combination of districts serves the parcel.
What this changes about a purchase this winter
These points apply to anyone closing on a Des Plaines property in the next several months.
- Compare using the tax year 2025 total. That bill is the first to include the reassessment. A figure from the 2024 bill reflects old values, and for condos the difference is larger.
- The first installment is based on the new number. The Treasurer calculates the first installment as 55% of the prior year's total tax, and exemptions are applied on the second installment. The tax year 2026 first installment will therefore be based on the post-reassessment bill. As of late October 2026, the Treasurer's due-date page does not yet list its due date. For reference, the tax year 2025 first installment was due April 1, 2026.
- The closing credit is based on the same bill. Illinois property taxes are paid in arrears. Landtrust Title Services describes a common Chicago-area practice of estimating the seller's credit to the buyer at 105% to 110% of the most recent full tax bill, then splitting it by closing date. The company says this is common practice, not a legal requirement. For a closing this winter, the most recent full bill is the tax year 2025 bill.
- Exemptions are set by the county. The Assessor's Homeowner Exemption reduces a home's equalized assessed value by $10,000, and the Senior Exemption reduces it by $8,000 for eligible properties. A seller's bill reflects the seller's exemptions, which may not match what a new owner qualifies for.
This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please confirm the details of your own purchase with your attorney, a tax professional or your lender.
If you're weighing a Des Plaines condo against a house and want to go through the tax year 2025 bills side by side, including which districts serve each parcel and what the closing credit could look like, Antonio Sarmiento can go over those numbers with you before you make an offer. Let's Connect.
