Maria Pappas
Democratic · IL · Cook County Treasurer
Maria Pappas has served as Cook County Treasurer since 1998 after eight years on the Cook County Board. An attorney with graduate training in psychology, she has led office automation, staffing reductions, multilingual taxpayer access, refund outreach, debt disclosure, and property-tax research.
Where Maria Pappas stands, based on their records
Supports
Anti-Corruption (3 records), Government Efficiency (4 records), Government Spending Reduction (1 record),
Track record
Track record — Anti-Corruption
Anti-Corruption · 3 support
Pappas backed a 2021 amendment expanding the Debt Disclosure Ordinance to require public reporting of tax-increment-financing spending and recipients.
February 25, 2021Supports Anti-Corruption
Source: cook-county.legistar.com
Also on this bill
- September 1, 2009 · Pappas proposed the Debt Disclosure Ordinance, approved September 1, 2009, requiring Cook County taxing districts to electronically disclose financial statements, debt, and pension obligations for public access. (Supports Anti-Corruption, Supports Government Efficiency)
Pappas proposed the Debt Disclosure Ordinance, approved September 1, 2009, requiring Cook County taxing districts to electronically disclose financial statements, debt, and pension obligations for public access.
September 1, 2009Supports Anti-Corruption
Source: cookcountydems.com
Also on this bill
- February 25, 2021 · Pappas backed a 2021 amendment expanding the Debt Disclosure Ordinance to require public reporting of tax-increment-financing spending and recipients. (Supports Anti-Corruption, Supports Government Efficiency)
Pappas instituted a tax-sale rule against identical maximum-penalty bids to promote competitive bidding; the Illinois Supreme Court upheld her authority to enforce the rule.
December 1, 2000Supports Anti-Corruption
Source: law.justia.com
Track record — Government Efficiency
Government Efficiency · 4 support
Pappas partnered with ABC 7 Chicago on a multilingual property-tax phone bank that received more than 300,000 calls in two days and generated $12.5 million in refund and missing-exemption applications.
April 12, 2021Supports Government Efficiency
Source: naco.org
Pappas's office built an in-house property-tax website with information in 108 languages, online refund and exemption tools, and roughly 1.2 million monthly visits during the 2021 outreach campaign.
April 12, 2021Supports Government Efficiency
Source: naco.org
Pappas backed a 2021 amendment expanding the Debt Disclosure Ordinance to require public reporting of tax-increment-financing spending and recipients.
February 25, 2021Supports Government Efficiency
Source: cook-county.legistar.com
Also on this bill
- September 1, 2009 · Pappas proposed the Debt Disclosure Ordinance, approved September 1, 2009, requiring Cook County taxing districts to electronically disclose financial statements, debt, and pension obligations for public access. (Supports Anti-Corruption, Supports Government Efficiency)
Pappas proposed the Debt Disclosure Ordinance, approved September 1, 2009, requiring Cook County taxing districts to electronically disclose financial statements, debt, and pension obligations for public access.
September 1, 2009Supports Government Efficiency
Source: cookcountydems.com
Also on this bill
- February 25, 2021 · Pappas backed a 2021 amendment expanding the Debt Disclosure Ordinance to require public reporting of tax-increment-financing spending and recipients. (Supports Anti-Corruption, Supports Government Efficiency)
Track record — Government Spending Reduction
Government Spending Reduction · 1 support
Pappas's office published a 30-year analysis finding Cook County property taxes grew 182 percent to $19.2 billion from 1995 through 2024, twice the rate of inflation.
March 30, 2026Supports Government Spending Reduction
Source: axios.com
Track record — Housing Affordability
Housing Affordability · 2 support
Launched the Black Houses Matter outreach campaign, which by April 2021 had returned $50 million in property tax refunds to Black homeowners and $24 million to Hispanic homeowners.
April 12, 2021Supports Housing Affordability
Source: naco.org
Pappas partnered with ABC 7 Chicago on a multilingual property-tax phone bank that received more than 300,000 calls in two days and generated $12.5 million in refund and missing-exemption applications.
April 12, 2021Supports Housing Affordability
Source: naco.org
Track record — General
General · 2 records
Pappas's office published an assessment-appeals study finding that from 2021 to 2023 commercial property-tax bills fell by $3.3 billion while homeowners absorbed nearly $2 billion more.
May 5, 2025
Source: axios.com
Pappas's office released the first Cook County study comparing referendum turnout with income, race, and homeownership, finding substantially lower participation in Black- and Latino-majority taxing districts.
March 26, 2025
Source: axios.com
Past race Maria Pappas ran in:
- Cook County Treasurer · November 3, 2026 · Cook County, Illinois · incumbent