Pilsen residents organize car caravan to protest rising Cook County property taxes

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Pilsen residents put their feet on the gas, hoping to put pressure on Cook County officials to hit the brakes on rising property taxes in their community.

"We don't want to move. We want to stay. With these taxes, we can't," said Pilsen resident Laura Paz

Paz was one of the organizers of the protest caravan that departed from Pilsen Friday morning. Drivers had signs posted on their cars calling attention to high property taxes.

The protest ended at the Cook County building downtown.

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"Mexicans, we are not rich people in this country. But we are hard working people in this country and to levy outrageous, criminal taxes on our community we will not accept this," Paz said.

Some neighbors shared their reactions when they received their tax bills.

"I get paperless. So it was about a month ago, so yeah I freaked out. I called my alderman," said Pilsen resident Rocio Cudia.

Property owners in other predominately Latino neighborhoods have also seen eye-popping property tax increases.

"My concerns are that we are being displaced. We have been dealing with gentrification for awhile now," Cudia said,

Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th Ward, is pushing for a moratorium on late fees or late fee waivers and checking assessments for errors.

"At least six of our communities have seen drastic increases that are putting our community at risk for foreclosure," he said.

ALSO SEE: Chicago property tax increases are largest in some Latino neighborhoods

Cook County Assessor's Office Chief of Staff Scott Smith put the blame on the county's Board of Review in a statement to ABC7.

He said "The Board of Review reduced the value of many large commercial properties downtown based on appeals to their office, which pushed more of the tax burden onto residents, including those in Pilsen and Little Village."

"The Board of Review and everybody at Cook County needs to assess things according to our income," Cudia demanded.

Scott also said the assessor's office is looking at reductions made by the Board of Review to determine what changes should be made for 2022 to ease the property tax burden on residents

"We believe it is highly unethical and should be illegal that property taxes can double or triple or even go up over 25% overnight," Sigcho-Lopez said.

ABC7 reached out to the Cook County Board of Review for comment and is awaiting a response.