As Cook County second installment tax bills arrive in mailboxes over the next several days, it is worth taking a few moments to examine the trend of assessments across the County by property class and among townships. In a FR Alert sent last year, we compared the 2008 and 2009 assessments by class of property for the County and each reassessment district. This year, we have updated that information with the 2010 assessment data and expanded our analysis to include information for each township. The highlights include the following:

• total County-wide assessments are down about 5% from 2009,

• the general trend of residential taxpayers bearing a growing percentage of the overall assessment share relative to commercial and industrial properties continues in the City of Chicago and south suburbs although at a reduced rate of increase compared to 2009, and...