Property owners along Park Avenue in Glencoe, Green Bay Road in Wilmette, and Waukegan Road in Northfield will keep paying the tab on hundreds of millions of dollars in voter-approved bonds and tax increases that fewer than one in five eligible voters actually decided.

That's the finding of a Cook County Treasurer's Office study released Sunday, July 26. Across 20 suburban referendums in the April 2025 consolidated election and the March 2026 primary, about 1 in 5 eligible voters participated, according to the report. Those voters approved $335.5 million in bonds and $3.7 million in new annual taxes while rejecting $54 million in bonds and $3.5 million in taxes. Fifteen of the 20 measures passed.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, whose office published the report, has long argued that higher voter engagement would curb what she calls fiscal irresponsibility. This is the third "the few decide for the many" study her office has produced, drawing attention to low turnout in elections where voters decide whether local property taxes should rise.

Glencoe's $17.5 million library bond

The study names Glencoe's $17.5 million library bond as one local example. On Tuesday, March 17, 2026, Glencoe voters approved the advisory referendum to renovate and expand the Glencoe Public Library at 320 Park Ave. The measure passed 1,168 to 590. The Treasurer's study does not publish a turnout percentage for that specific vote.

Under the bond, Glencoe property owners face an estimated $135 annual increase for every $10,000 they pay in property taxes. For a commercial property owner with a $100,000 annual tax bill, the bond would add roughly $1,350 per year.

"We were so happy the community came and supported the renovation plan," Library Director Andrew Kim told the Pioneer Press in March 2026, after the vote.

The referendum was advisory. The Glencoe Village Board must formally issue the bonds. Village President Howard Roin said in March 2026 that the board intends to follow the voters' will and issue bonds when the Library Board requests them. Roin said construction could begin in early 2027 and last 18 to 24 months.

The library bond is the latest in a string of Glencoe debt: voters previously approved nearly $15 million for Park District beach and park improvements in 2024, $10 million for village infrastructure in 2021, and $15 million for Glencoe Golf Club upgrades.

Northfield saw higher turnout

Northfield bucked the low-turnout trend. About 37.5% of registered voters cast ballots in the March 17 primary there, well above the countywide average. They approved a $23.5 million bond for Sunset Ridge School District 29 to renovate Middlefork School, along with a Northfield Park District 0.1% tax increase that adds roughly $30 per $100,000 in property value annually.

Why turnout drops on tax questions

The Treasurer's report identified two factors: referendum questions often land at the bottom of the ballot, and they're written in dense legal language. One Leyden Fire Protection District question in the 2026 primary ran nearly 200 words and asked whether a "limiting rate" should "be increased by an additional amount equal to 0.219053%." In plain terms, it asked whether the district could raise its levy from $3 million to about $3.7 million.

State Rep. Maurice West, a Rockford Democrat, introduced House Bill 4613 earlier in 2026 to require plain-language ballot questions. No state law currently mandates it, and the bill's status in the General Assembly is unclear.

What's ahead

The November 2026 ballot already includes a $53 million bond request from the Skokie Park District, voted onto the ballot July 21. The full Treasurer's study is available at cookcountytreasurer.com.