With property tax bills landing in mailboxes across Chicago this week, many homeowners—particularly in predominantly Black neighborhoods—were stunned by dramatic increases. Some residents in North Lawndale, Englewood, and West Garfield Park saw their bills jump by 80, 100, even 133 percent. For Richard Townsell, executive director of the Lawndale Christian Development Corporation, the moment demanded more than outrage. It demanded a public stand.
Townsell joined Chicago’s Morning Answer host Dan Proft to discuss the grassroots protest he helped organize: a “property tax bill burning” that drew neighbors together for what he described as a cathartic, symbolic response to a system they feel has failed them. Townsell’s own bill rose nearly 76 percent this year. One homeowner he works with saw her bill climb from zero to more than $6,000 after moving from a vacant lot into a newly built home. Another resident faced a staggering 237 percent increase. “Neighborhoods that have historically been disinvested are being hammered,” Townsell said. “We should not be bearing the brunt of what happened downtown.”
City officials have blamed the spike on the triennial assessment cycle and declining commercial property values in the Loop, which shifted the tax burden onto homeowners. But Townsell rejects the explanation and the city’s offer of extended payment plans. He instead demanded full neighborhood-level data on assessments and increases across all 77 community areas, saying he does not trust officials “holding the alarm code to the hen house.”
Rather than wait for a political response, Townsell and his organization are pushing for sweeping changes at the state level. He is calling for a California-style property tax cap modeled on Proposition 13—where assessments are based on 1 percent of appraised value and increases are limited to no more than 2 percent annually. He acknowledged the approach raises its own challenges but said Illinois’ current system is unsustainable. “We want predictability,” he said. “People should not be blindsided by hurricane-sized bills when they expected a breeze.”
Townsell said any real fix must be statewide, with buy-in from Chicago, its suburbs, and downstate communities. He has begun conversations with neighborhood residents, local lawmakers, and business groups. He noted that BOMA Chicago, which represents downtown commercial property owners, also supports structural reform. Yet he conceded that the most powerful interests—public-sector unions that rely on property taxes to fund salaries and pensions—will fiercely resist caps or systemic overhaul.
Even so, Townsell believes ordinary Illinoisans are a larger and more potent force than the entrenched political class. “The citizens are bigger than the special interests,” he said. “We’re sick of going through this every three years. People are going to be priced out of their homes.”
Townsell acknowledged that the coming fight will be long and difficult, but he insists the outrage sparked by this year’s bills can be channeled into meaningful reform. “Let’s use this anger to do something productive,” he said. “If we want fairness, transparency, and stability, we have to build the coalition ourselves.”
Proft invited Townsell to stay in touch as the effort develops, calling the push for property tax reform one of the most important structural fights in Illinois politics.