Cook County loses billions in tax dollars to collar counties

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is trying to make the bitter pill of a $250 million property tax increase to save two city employee pension funds easier to swallow for aldermen, but even if he does that, the backlash from residents could be costly.

Illinois Policy has dug into some IRS data and found that from 1992 to 2010, Cook County lost a net of 276,000 taxpayers to its neighboring countines. Factor in those taxpayers’ dependents, and that number rises to 840,000. And with that, goes money. A lot of money.

If Emanuel’s tax increase goes through, some say it could accelerate the outflow of residents from within the city limits and out of Cook County altogether.

Here’s a look at how the surrounding counties have benefited from people fleeing the city: