Behind on property taxes in Englewood, South Shore or the Lower West Side? A City pilot offers up to $5,000

Applications are open through Nov. 20. The program comes from the Jackson Park Housing Pilot ordinance, which took 722 days to pass the Council and passed 49-0.

By Chicago PoliticsUpdated Oct 26, 2026

Homeowners in Englewood, South Shore and the Lower West Side who are behind on their 2023 or 2024 property taxes can apply for up to $5,000 to help keep their homes out of the county tax sale, under a pilot the Mayor's office announced Oct. 22. Applications are open online through Nov. 20 or until the money runs out, according to the City's announcement.

Why it matters: unpaid property taxes can be sold at the Cook County tax sale, and a homeowner who cannot redeem them can lose the house. The City says it is mailing letters first to owners in the Jackson Park Housing Pilot area whose taxes are at risk of sale in December 2026 or March 2027.

Who can apply

According to the City's announcement, homeowners must:

own the home and live in it as their main residence;
have household income at or below 100% of the area median income;
owe eligible unpaid property taxes from tax year 2023 or 2024; and
provide the required personal information.

The program is run with United Way of Metro Chicago and 211 Metro Chicago. Residents can call 2-1-1 for help with the application. The City notes that living in a listed neighborhood or receiving a letter does not guarantee an award. More information is at chicago.gov/ptdrp.

Where the money comes from

The City says the $500,000 pilot is paid for mostly from money it won suing Texas-based bus companies that dropped off migrants in Chicago without authorization. The Law Department filed enforcement actions against 95 bus companies, reached settlements totaling $260,950 and won default judgments totaling $181,000, according to the announcement.

There is a gap between figures worth noting. The City's release says the ordinance authorized $500,000 for property tax debt relief in the pilot zone. When the Council passed the ordinance last year, the Hyde Park Herald reported it created a $3 million Property Tax Debt Relief Grant pilot. The City's announcement does not explain the difference, and we will update this story if it does.

What our records add

Two years from introduction to passage. Ald. Desmon Yancy (5th) introduced the Jackson Park Housing Pilot ordinance (SO2023-0004085) on Oct. 4, 2023. It passed the Council 49 to 0 on Sept. 25, 2025, 722 days later, after being substituted in committee. The Herald reported the final version was narrower than the original 2023 South Shore proposal.

How each ward voted

49 yea, 1 absent · Sep 25, 2025 · Passed

Yea Nay Absent

SO2023-0004085: the roll call, the timeline and the documents

What members said. At the Committee on Housing and Real Estate the day before final passage, Yancy presented the pilot as building on the Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance to help residents near the Obama Presidential Center stay in their homes (watch at 3:50:56). Ald. Jeanette Taylor (20th) said the City did not address displacement before the center was built and called for a citywide approach (3:41:38). Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) asked why a new substitute was being accepted on top of an earlier one (3:15:32).

Tax sales keep coming up. At a July 2026 Budget Committee hearing, Ald. Ronnie Mosley (21st) asked about working with Cook County to stop tax sale practices that let a few owners pile up neglected lots (watch at 4:00:21).

The pilot area, according to the Herald, runs from 60th to 71st streets and from King Drive to DuSable Lake Shore Drive, covering parts of the 5th, 6th and 20th wards. The new relief program also reaches Englewood and the Lower West Side.

What's next

The application window closes Nov. 20. The Department of Housing appears at the Council's budget hearings on Nov. 4 (schedule), where members can ask how many homeowners have applied.

Sources: Chicago Politics: City Council, Sept. 25, 2025.