A Cook County program to help homeowners walloped by property tax hikes between 2021 and 2023 is now taking applications.

The Cook County Homeowner Relief Fund will pay $1,000 to eligible homeowners who saw a property tax increase of 50% or more in 2021, 2022 or 2023. That includes those whose bills went from $0 to something higher in those years.

The $15 million program will take just a small bite out of the estimated 95,000 homeowners who saw a spike that big, according to the Cook County Assessor’s Office . A large concentration are in the south suburbs.

Only homeowners at or below the 100% of the county’s median income will qualify — that’s about $120,000 for a family of four and $96,000 for a family of two. Property owners must have an active homeowner exemption — which proves th

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