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Houlihan, a 12-year veteran at the assessor's post who is not seeking re-election, blamed the assessment spikes on lawmakers in Springfield, who in 2004 imposed caps on runaway tax assessments during the real estate boom but then three years later voted to gradually do away with the protections.

Foes of caps argued that they served to shift a heavier property tax burden onto owners of industrial and commercial property and would drive away business from the county if made permanent.

Assessment data showed residential properties now make up more than 62 percent of the value of taxable properties in the county, up from 48 percent a decade ago. Over the same period, the share borne by commercial and industrial property has dropped from about 42 percent to 32 percent.

The assessment caps are really an expanded homeowners exemption that tries to limit the annual growth in a home's value for tax purposes. In the three-year phaseout plan, up to $33,000 in such growth can be protected the first year, only $26,000 the second year and $20,000 in the third and final year.

Because of the staggered way the county is reassessed, tax bills to south suburban homeowners now reflect year one of the phaseout process, the north suburbs are in year two, and the city is in year three. Tax bills come due in semi-annual installments, and the second -- the one now headed your way -- incorporates all the changes from the prior year.

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