[CBS] Many Cook County homeowners are reeling from whopping property tax bills that came out late and much higher than expected. Chicago's south and west sides saw some of the biggest increases as tax bills began arriving in mailboxes the last few days.In the North Lawndale neighborhood, property tax bills went up on average 98%. In the West Garfield Park neighborhood, the average increase was more than 130%
One of the main reasons for skyrocketing property tax bills for homeowners is because of what's happening downtown, where property taxes collected from commercial businesses dropped $129 million over the past year.
Richard Townsell, of North Lawndale, said his property tax bill went up more than 75%, and he has a friend whose bill jumped 237%
"My wife and I, we had a budget meeting last week as we were looking at this. You know, does that mean maybe we don't take the vacation we thought we were going to take?" he said.