Cook County Treasurer

The Cook County Treasurer is the treasurer of county government in Cook County, Illinois

Office description

The Cook County Treasurer oversees what is the United States' second-largest system of property tax collection and distribution. The office was established in 1831, and since 1835 has been an elected, partisan position. The inaugural holder of the office of treasurer was Archibald Clybourn, an early settler of Cook County.

The treasurer holds responsibility for printing and mailing bills based on data they are provided by other county and state agencies regarding assessments, exemptions, and tax rate.

The treasurer is responsible for the collection of $12 billion in taxes annually from owners of over 1.8 million parcels of property.

The treasurer is responsible for the distribution of tax funds to approximately 2,200 local government agencies with the jurisdiction to collect taxes, including school districts, municipalities, townships, park systems, forest preserve systems, libraries, public health and safety agencies, election authorities, economic-development agencies, and public-works bonds.

The treasurer needs to maintain an investment policy and strategy.

The treasurer is tasked with receiving and safely keeping revenues and other public funds of the county, and all other money authorized by the law to be paid to them, and to disburse these funds in accordance to the law.

Under state law, to assist them with the execution of their duties, the treasurer appoints deputies, assistants, and personnel. The treasurer must file regular reports with the president of the Cook County Board of Commissioners providing summary of the financial status of their office. The treasurer also, per state law, oversees the process of refunding overpayment of taxes.

As of 2022, the salary paid to the elected Cook County Treasurer is $115,500. As of October 2021, the Cook County Treasurer's office has 58 employees and a total annual budget of $12,703,015.

Officeholders

Treasurer		Term in office	Party	Notes	Cite
	Archibald Clybourn	1831–1834
	Isaac Harmon	March 1834–1835
	Henry Kimball	1835–1836		First elected Treasurer
	Samuel J. Trowbridge	March 1836–June 1837
	Edward E. Hunter	June 1837–May 1838
	John Calhoun	May 1838–June 1839
	Nathan H. Bolles	June 1839–October 1839
	Isaac Cook	October 1839–August 1843
	Anton Getzler	August 1843–August 1847
	William L. Church	August 1847–November 1849
	James Long	November 1849–November 1851
	Horatio N. Heald	1851–1855
	Michael Gleason	1855–1857
	Augustus H. Boyden	1857–1861
	Jacob Rehm	1861–1865
	Jesse M. Allen	1865–1867
	Thomas O. Osborne	1867–1869
	H.S. Rexford	1869–1871
	Julian S. Rumsey	1871–1873	Republican
	Henry B. Miller	1873–1875
	Louis C. Huck	1875–1877
	S.H. McCrea	1877–1879
	William T. Johnson	1879–1882
	William C. Seipp	1882–1886	Democratic
	John R. Thompson	____–1910	Republican
	W. L. O'Connell	1910–____	Democratic
	H. R. Gibbons	December 1918–April 19, 1921	Democratic	Elected in 1918; died in office
	Patrick J. Carr	April 20, 1921–____		Appointed by Cook County Board of Commissioners on April 20, 1921
	George F. Harding
	Joseph McDonough	1930–1934		Elected in 1930; died in office
	Robert Sweitzer	December 4, 1934–1935	Democratic	Elected in 1934, removed from office by vote of the Cook County Board of Commissioners in 1935
	Joseph L. Gill	1935–???	Democratic	Appointed in 1935
	Herbert C. Paschen	1954–1958	Democratic
	Francis S. Lorenz	1958–September 1961	Democratic	Elected in 1958; resigned to accept appointment as Illinois Treasurer
	Bernard J. Korzen
	Edward J. Rosewell	December 1974–December 1998	Democratic	Elected in 1974, 1988, 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994
	Maria Pappas	December 1998–present	Democratic	Elected in 1998, 2002, 2006, 2019, 2014, 2018, 2022

Recent election results