The Cook County treasurer is the

treasurer A treasurer is a person responsible for the financial operations of a government, business, or other organization. Government The treasury of a country is the department responsible for the country's economy, finance and revenue. The treasure ...

of county government in

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

Office description

The Cook County treasurer oversees the second-largest system of property tax collection and distribution in the United States. The inaugural holder of the office of treasurer was Archibald Clybourn, an early settler of Cook County. The office was established in 1831, and since 1835 has been an elected, partisan position. Its elected terms were initially two years in length- Prior to 1835, it was appointed by the three-member

Cook County Board of Commissioners The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, which includes the City ...

. Today the terms are four years. 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 district A school district is a special-purpose district that operates local public Primary school, primary or Secondary school, secondary schools or both in various countries. It is not to be confused with an attendance zone, which is within a school dis ...

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

townships A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

, 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 The President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners is the Chief executive officer, chief executive of county government in Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, Illinois. They are the head of the Cook County Board of Commissioners. The presi ...

providing summary of the financial status of their office. The treasurer also, per state law, oversees the process of

refunding Refunding occurs when an entity that has issued callable bonds calls those debt securities from the debt holders with the express purpose of reissuing new debt at a lower coupon rate. In essence, the issue of new, lower-interest debt allows the ...

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

Recent election results

, - , colspan=16 style="text-align:center;" , Cook County Treasurer general elections , - !Year !Winning candidate !Party !Vote (pct) !Opponent !Party ! Vote (pct) !Opponent !Party ! Vote (pct) !Opponent !Party ! Vote (pct) , - ,

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

, , Edward J. Rosewell , , Democratic , , 905,190 (68.78%) , , Richard M. Hetzer , , Republican , , 410,909 (31.22%) , , , , , , , - ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, , Edward J. Roswell , , Democratic , , 710,699 (58.03%) , , Thomas D. Eilers , , Republican , , 357,673 (29.21%) , Text style="background:#D2B48C , Charles W. Alexander , Text style="background:#D2B48C ,

Harold Washington Party The Harold Washington Party was founded in Chicago in the late 1980s by Timothy C. Evans to represent the interests of the city's African-American population who felt disenchanted with the mainline Democratic Party. History The party was crea ...

, Text style="background:#D2B48C , 156,294 (12.76%) , , , , - ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, , Edward J. Roswell , , Democratic , , , , Jean Reyes Pechette , , Republican , , , Text style="background:#D2B48C , Robert J. Pettis , Text style="background:#D2B48C , Harold Washington Party , Text style="background:#D2B48C , , John Justice ,

Populist Populism is a contested concept used to refer to a variety of political stances that emphasize the idea of the " common people" and often position this group in opposition to a perceived elite. It is frequently associated with anti-establis ...

, , - ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, ,

Maria Pappas Maria Pappas is a Greek American attorney and politician who has served as the Cook County Treasurer since 1998. Prior to that, she served two terms on the Cook County Board of Commissioners; first as one of ten members elected from Chicago an ...

, , Democratic , , 978,373 (77.79%) , ,

Anthony Peraica Anthony J. "Tony" Peraica (born April 14, 1957) is an American politician from Chicago, Illinois. He was the Cook County Commissioner for the 16th district, and was the unsuccessful Republican nominee for Cook County treasurer in 1998, for pres ...

, , Republican , , 279,355 (22.21%) , , , , , , , - ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, , Maria Pappas , , Democratic , , 998,480 (76.20%) , , Richard J. Daniels , , Republican , , 311,787 (23.80%) , , , , , , , - ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, , Maria Pappas , , Democratic , , 1,074,756 (83.70%) , , Erik Peck , , Republican , , 209,253 (16.30%) , , , , , , , - ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , Maria Pappas , , Democratic , , 1,042,318 (77.21%) , , Carol A. Morse , , Republican , , 307,612 (22.79%) , , , , , , , - ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

, , Maria Pappas , , Democratic , , 1,048,234 (100%) , , , , , , , , , , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , Maria Pappas , , Democratic , , 1,447,145 (99.26%) , ''Others'' ,

Write-ins A write-in candidate is a candidate whose name does not appear on the ballot but seeks election by asking voters to cast a vote for the candidate by physically writing in the person's name on the ballot. Depending on electoral law it may be poss ...

, 10,780 (0.74%) , , , , , , , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , Maria Pappas , , Democratic , , 1,063,160 (75.41%) , , Peter Kopsaftis , , Republican , , 314,013 (22.28%) , , Michael Murphy , ,

Libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

, , 32,577 (2.31%) , , ,

References

{{Cook County, Illinois government