Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas plans to postpone the Annual Tax Sale for seven months, during which time she hopes to work with legislators on comprehensive property tax foreclosure reform measures. At Pappas’s urging, the Illinois General Assembly last week passed legislation that allows the Treasurer to postpone the Annual Tax Sale previously set to be held this August. The legislation also provides that during the delay no additional interest will be charged on delinquent bills subject to the sale. Once the legislation officially becomes law, she will be allowed to delay the sale until March 2026. Cook County’s Annual Tax Sale is required by state law and typically must be held no more than 13 months after the second installment due date. During the sale, tax buyers pay delinquent property taxes in exchange for a lien on the property. If property owners don’t pay off that lien, with interest, the tax buyer can take title to the property. Pappas’s postponement request came in the wake of a 2023 decision by the United States Supreme Court that called into question the way property tax collection enforcement has been conducted in Illinois and many other states.