Property owners in Cook County have a new tool that will show them where their tax money goes. 

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas launched a new online tool on Tuesday, "Where Your Money Goes," that gives property owners a breakdown of their last two years of property tax bills.

The tool calculates how much money is owed to each school district or other local government unit - showing taxpayers the increase or decrease from the previous year.

It's different from the paper tax bill, which shows the same information; however, this tool displays how much in total dollars each property's bill increased or decreased for each taxing district between 2021 and 2022. It also provides a link to that taxing body's homepage.

Property owners can search by address or PIN at the treasurer's website.

The second installment payments for 2022 are due Dec. 1.

“Taxpayers upset about how much they owe now have an easier way to find out where their money goes,” Pappas said in a news release. “People should pay attention to how the amount of money sought by schools and other taxing bodies, combined with changes to property assessments, affects individual bills.”

For 2022, roughly 40% of the property taxes paid by Park Forest residents funded municipal services provided by the Village of Park Forest. An estimated 53% funded area school districts and seven percent of property tax dollars funded other services, including the Park Forest Public Library. 

In Park Forest, the Village is hosting a public hearing to approve a proposed property tax levy on Monday, Dec 4., at 7 p.m. in the boardroom at Village Hall. 

Anyone wanting to attend and present at the public hearing may contact Finance Director Mark Pries by calling 708-283-5607.

For more information about the tax levy, click here.