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.
Track record
Anti-Corruption
· 3 records
Pappas backed a 2021 amendment expanding the Debt Disclosure Ordinance to require public reporting of tax-increment-financing spending and recipients.
February 25, 2021For
Source: cook-county.legistar.com · researched July 13, 2026
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, 2009For
Source: cookcountydems.com · researched July 13, 2026
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, 2000For
Source: law.justia.com · researched July 13, 2026
Government Efficiency
· 3 records
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, 2021For
Source: naco.org · researched July 13, 2026
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, 2021For
Source: naco.org · researched July 13, 2026
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, 2009For
Source: cookcountydems.com · researched July 13, 2026
Government Spending Reduction
· 1 record
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, 2026For
Source: axios.com · researched July 13, 2026
Housing Affordability
· 7 records
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, 2026For
Source: axios.com · researched July 13, 2026
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, 2025For
Source: axios.com · researched July 13, 2026
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, 2025For
Source: axios.com · researched July 13, 2026
Pappas launched Black Houses Matter outreach and, since March 2020, returned $50 million to Black homeowners and $24 million to Hispanic homeowners through refund and exemption assistance.
April 12, 2021For
Source: naco.org · researched July 13, 2026
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, 2021For
Source: naco.org · researched July 13, 2026
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, 2021For
Source: naco.org · researched July 13, 2026
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, 2000For
Source: law.justia.com · researched July 13, 2026
Elections
- Cook County Treasurer · November 3, 2026 · Cook County, Illinois · incumbent
Profile last researched July 13, 2026.