Rev. Jackson pushing to extend deadline for overdue Cook County property taxes

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A critical date is coming up for some homeowners in Cook County who still need to pay property taxes after an Illinois law cut the grace period to make their payments.

The deadline is on April 3 to pay overdue property taxes for the year 2015 that were due in 2016.

Some churches and businesses are stepping up to help and Rev. Jesse Jackson is calling for the deadline to be extended back to a year.

"Many people on fixed income may have one thousand, two thousand dollars, they can't come up with four payments and so we are asking Mr. Madigan to work with us to extend the deadline back to a year again," Jackson said.

There are 50,000 property owners in Cook County who have delinquent tax bills.

"Many are seniors and they paid their house off and are now on fixed income, threatened by the medical situation and can't pay their taxes," Jackson said.

Jackson is asking for people to meet at Rainbow PUSH Headquarters at 50th and Drexel at 9:30 a.m. to work to get tax relief.

Two other organizations, the Westside Justice Center and the Cook County Bar Association, have stepped up to help anyone who has legal questions.

WESTSIDE JUSTICE CENTER:

Phone: 773-940-2213

Website: http://westsidejusticecenter.com/

COOK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION:

Phone: 312-630-1157

If you're concerned about your property taxes, contact the Cook County Treasurer's Office. You will need your address or your property index number to check the status of your tax bill. You can either go online or call the office's phone number below.

COOK COUNTY TREASURER: http://www.cookcountytreasurer.com/

COOK COUNTY TREASURER PHONE NUMBER: 312-443-5100