If you're touring Matteson homes this month, the tax line on every listing sheet comes from a bill based on home values the Cook County Assessor set in 2023. The values that will drive the next bill went out in the mail on October 21, 2026. They show up on tax bills in 2027. So the most reliable-looking number on a listing is about to be replaced, and for most single-family homes in Rich Township the new value is close to what the old market already said.
The new value isn't what moves a Matteson tax bill. The levies set by each taxing district move it, and your home's value only decides your share of those levies. That's why Matteson's tax rate has kept rising while home values held fairly steady.
The new number, and how small the change is
For Rich Township, which includes Matteson, the Assessor puts the 2025 median sale price of a single-family home at $223,000. The 2026 estimate is $225,000. Condos run the other direction: a $161,000 median sale in 2025 and a $160,000 estimate. Small apartment buildings show the biggest gap, with a $495,000 median sale and a $416,000 estimate.
The last cycle is a useful comparison. In 2023, the Assessor estimated the median Rich Township single-family home at $207,000, when the 2022 median sale was about $196,000. That estimate sat above the market. This year's sits almost right on it. In three years the median estimate went from $207,000 to $225,000, an increase of about 8.7%.
If you're holding one of the Rich Township notices mailed October 21, there's a good chance the value printed on it looks reasonable.
The rate kept climbing anyway
Meanwhile the tax rate has gone up faster than the value. The Cook County Clerk's 2025 Tax Rate Report, released September 23, 2026, puts the Village of Matteson's average composite rate per parcel at 15.410581% for 2025. That's up 7.93% from 14.278722% in 2024. The 2024 report showed a 4.01% increase the year before, from 13.728000% in 2023. From 2023 to 2025, the average composite rate rose a little over 12%.
The individual lines on that report show where the increase came from:
| Taxing district | 2024 rate | 2025 rate | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| School District 159 | 5.512030 | 5.972415 | +8.35% |
| Village of Matteson | 1.440365 | 1.484133 | +3.04% |
| Town Rich Corporate | 0.205400 | 0.219938 | +7.08% |
| County of Cook | 0.390469 | 0.355954 | -8.84% |
The Clerk says the composite figure is an average, and a given parcel's rate can be higher or lower depending on which taxing districts serve it. Even so, the trend is consistent. The rate has gone up two years in a row, and the school district is the biggest single piece.
Why a flat value and a rising rate go together
According to the Cook County Treasurer's property tax primer, the levy is set first, meaning the total dollars each district asks for. The rate comes after. If total property values grow faster than the levy, the rate goes down. If values fall, the rate goes up so the levy still gets collected.
The Assessor's office says the same thing on its Rich Township commercial page:
"The effects of this reassessment on an individual's property tax bill are impossible to predict based on just one property's change in assessed value. Each property's share of the overall property taxes for a taxing agency's district depends on its share of the total assessed values of all properties in that district."
So the useful question for a Matteson buyer is how your home's value moved compared with everything else in the same districts. In Matteson, "everything else" includes a lot of commercial and industrial property.
The building that changes the math
The Assessor publishes the worksheets behind its 2026 valuations of Rich Township income-producing property. The township model covers 386 properties with a combined estimated market value of $1,500,476,000. That model includes a multi-story distribution warehouse at 6457 Vollmer Road, which has 3,480,853 square feet of building, was built in 2021, and carries an estimated market value of $332,998,000. That one property is about 22% of the modeled value of all 386.
Other Matteson rows in the same model are much smaller:
- A shopping center at 4020 W. 211th Street, estimated at $15,014,000
- A big-box retail property at 4451 Lincoln Mall, estimated at $5,144,000
- A single-story distribution warehouse at 21430 Cicero, estimated at $10,650,000
That Cicero Avenue address is the facility where, as WhatNow reported in March 2026, Walmart filed notice of 111 layoffs and planned to move the operations to other facilities.
These are starting figures. The Assessor says the workbook reflects initial valuations and doesn't include changes from appeals. Commercial owners can appeal by the same December 4, 2026 deadline as homeowners. Where these commercial values end up after appeals has a lot to do with how much of the levy lands on homes.
The south suburbs have seen this happen before. After the 2023 reassessment, the Cook County Treasurer reported that the median homeowner bill in the south and southwest suburbs rose 19.9%, to $6,117. The Treasurer listed three causes: the end of a 10% COVID-era assessment reduction, higher home sale prices, and successful business assessment appeals. Homeowners picked up a bigger share of the levy, and part of the reason was that business property won its appeals.
What the bills have done since
The Treasurer's numbers for the same south and southwest suburban region show the growth slowing after that jump. For Tax Year 2024 the median homeowner bill rose 2.2%, to $6,258. The Tax Year 2025 analysis, published August 2026, shows a 3.4% increase to $6,468. In the same report, the median commercial bill rose 4.2%, to $13,686. Those Tax Year 2025 bills are the ones on today's listing sheets. The second installment was due October 1, 2026.
Reading the tax line on a Matteson listing
Here's how I go through it with buyers:
- Check the year. Right now, a recent listing most likely shows the Tax Year 2025 bill, which is built on 2023 values. The 2026 values affect bills issued in 2027.
- Look at the exemptions. In Cook County the Homeowner Exemption subtracts $10,000 of equalized assessed value, and the Senior Exemption subtracts $8,000. A seller's bill with exemptions you won't qualify for will make the home look cheaper to own than it will be for you.
- Confirm the county. The Village of Matteson sits in both Cook and Will counties. On the Will County side, township assessors set values and the county applies equalization every year. Will County's 2025 bills were mailed May 1, 2026, with installments due June 1 and September 1. Two homes with a Matteson address can have tax bills that run on separate calendars.
- Look up the parcel. The Assessor's Rich Township page has a PIN lookup with the home's characteristics and its 2026 estimate, so you can compare it to the asking price.
If you own in Matteson now
The Rich Township residential valuations page says appeals are free, can be filed online, and don't require a lawyer. The deadline is December 4, 2026. The Assessor's rule of thumb is that if the characteristics on your notice are correct and the estimated value is within 10% of what you think the home would sell for, an appeal probably won't change the assessment enough to make a real difference in the bill. The page names three grounds for an appeal: lack of uniformity with comparable homes, overvaluation, and an incorrect property description such as wrong square footage.
This is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Please check your own situation with a tax professional or attorney before you file anything or make a decision based on a tax estimate.
FAQ
My notice went up. Will my bill go up by the same percentage? Not necessarily. Your 2027 bill depends on each district's levy and on your share of the total assessed value in those districts, and commercial values in Rich Township are being reassessed at the same time.
Is the composite rate on the Clerk's report my exact rate? No. It's an average across parcels in the village. Your rate depends on the combination of taxing districts that serve your property.
How often does this happen? Cook County reassesses each township every three years. Rich Township was reassessed in 2023 and again in 2026.
If you're comparing Matteson homes this winter and want to work out what the tax line on a listing means for you, I'll pull the parcel, the exemptions and the county with you before you write an offer, in English or en español. Reach out to Elizabeth Botelloo and let's connect.
