CHICAGO -- Some suburban voters are facing key decisions about hiking property taxes in the April 1 election, but if the past is precedent, “the few will decide for the many” again, according to a report from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas’ office.

Referendums for $45 million in infrastructure spending in Western Springs, $94.9 million in school upgrades in Northbrook, and for permission to go above state tax caps in the Northfield Park District, Prospect Heights and Roselle are on the ballot this spring.

And Pappas’ office found a small number of voters — largely rich, white homeowners — tend to have the strongest turnout for these types of property tax votes.

The treasurer’s office report compared turnout with census data on race, income and home ownership to reach its conclusions.

Pappas, whose office mails property tax bills, previously released an analysis showing low turnout on pocketbook issues further down ballot, arguing more voter engagement would keep rising taxes under control. Average turnout across the county for property-tax-related issues in the 2024 primary was just 20.9%, according to the report. Less than a quarter of all Chicago voters, for example, gave their say on the “Bring Chicago Home” question, which did not pass.

“Rising property taxes always anger property owners. Despite that, most don’t vote in referendums that determine whether their taxes go up or down,” Pappas said in a release.

In the 2024 elections, the treasurer’s report found, the average turnout for property tax-related referendums went above 50% only in districts where the median household income was more than $100,000. Average turnout was just 34% in areas where median household income was below $82,000, which is the countywide median income.

Part of the difference is due to the fact wealthier districts put more of their referendum questions on the general election ballot, when voter turnout is typically higher.

But the study found for both 2024 elections, ballot drop-off — or the tendency to only vote on issues at the top of the ballot and skip things lower down like referendum questions — was higher in lowest-income taxing districts, too.

Turnout in south suburban Robbins was 14.1% when voters approved a park district request for a property tax extension last year. The median household income is below $38,000 there, and the referendum’s passage added $132 to the annual property tax bill for a $100,000 home there.

Along the North Shore in Kenilworth, where median household income is over $250,000, turnout was more than twice the rate in Robbins when Kenilworth village officials requested permission for a $2.5 million beach bond issuance.

Referendum turnout in majority white taxing districts in 2024 was also “significantly” higher than Black, Latino and majority-minority districts, the analysis found. While median drop-off rates in majority white and majority Black districts were less than 6%, that rate increased to “11% in majority Latino districts and nearly 13% in majority-minority districts,” the report said.

It was a similar phenomenon for referendums held from 2020 through 2023: “majority white districts with median household incomes greater than $100,000 had the strongest voter turnout.”

Districts with high home ownership also corresponded to higher turnout in 2024, the analysis found. In districts where fewer than 80% of units were owner-occupied, average turnout was just 34%, but in taxing districts where 80% or more of residents own their homes, average turnout exceeded 55%. The trend was similar in 2023, officials say. Both homeowners and renters pay property taxes, but homeowners pay directly while renters have that cost factored into monthly leases.

Last year, voters approved 14 of 15 referendums from taxing bodies asking permission to borrow money above state limits. The lone failure was a nearly $90 million bond issue for Avoca School District 37 in the North Shore. Between 2020 and 2023, voters approved about 80% of similar referendums, last year’s report found.

All three referendums asking voters for home rule powers also passed last year in Richton Park, Roselle and Glencoe. Those powers allow municipalities to impose different kinds of taxes, issue new debt and go beyond state caps on property tax increases.

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