Illinois Taxpayers Get Rare Chance to Sue in Federal Court (1)

A lawsuit accusing the nation’s second-most populous county of discriminatory tax treatment is the rare challenge to state or local taxes that may proceed in federal court, the Seventh Circuit ruled.

A group of Illinois taxpayers is challenging the way Cook County imposed property taxes in the early to mid-2000s. The taxpayers allege that the policy of imposing property taxes on them according to legally prescribed rates—while assessing significantly lower rates to other taxpayers—violated their rights under the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause.

Cook County—which includes Chicago and its suburbs—argued that the lawsuit is barred by the Tax Injunction Act, ...