Same Village, Different Tax Bill: Why Barrington Hills' Property Taxes Depend on Which Side of the Line You're On

In the Cook County portion of Barrington Hills, the average composite property tax rate fell from 8.265736 percent for tax year 2024 to 7.194332 percent for tax year 2025, a drop of 12.96 percent, according to the Cook County Clerk's 2025 Tax Rate Report. Over the same tax year, the median homeowner bill in the Cook County portions of Barrington Hills rose 15 percent, as the Daily Herald reported from Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas' annual analysis.

So the rate went down and the bill went up. If you're comparing homes in Barrington Hills, that gap matters more than any one number on a listing sheet. The village sits in four counties: Cook, Lake, Kane and McHenry. It's also split between two school districts, Barrington Community Unit School District 220 and Community Unit School District 300. A property's tax bill depends on its tax code, meaning the exact mix of county, township, school district and other taxing bodies stacked on that parcel. In 2025, those codes moved in different directions.

How a Falling Rate Produces a Rising Bill

Taxing bodies set their levies, meaning the total dollars they plan to collect. The county clerk then divides those levies by the assessed value of the district to get a rate. The Cook County Treasurer's tax year 2025 analysis lays out that sequence. When home values rise faster than the levies, the rate falls. Your share of the total can still grow, though, if your home's value rose faster than everyone else's.

That's what happened in the north suburbs. Barrington Township was part of the Cook County Assessor's 2025 reassessment, and values certified that year flow into the second-installment bills issued in 2026. The Assessor's Barrington Township valuation page put the median estimated market value for single-family homes at $803,000 for 2025, compared with a $734,000 median sale price in 2024. The Treasurer's report found that home values across the reassessed north suburbs "significantly outpaced" business values, which moved more of the tax burden onto homeowners.

Barrington-area towns also had a referendum on top of that. Voters approved a $64 million bond issue for District 220 school buildings in the November 2024 election. The Daily Herald's summary of the Treasurer's analysis lists the resulting median homeowner bill increases side by side.

Cook County mailed those second-installment bills on September 1, 2026, two months later than usual because of a technology overhaul, and they were due October 1. If you're looking at a Cook County listing in Barrington Hills this fall, the most recent tax figure already reflects the reassessment and the referendum.

In McHenry County, the Cheaper Side of the Village Flipped

In the McHenry County portion of the village, District 220 and District 300 sit next to each other. Both of the tax codes there include the Village of Barrington Hills, the Barrington Hills Park District, the Barrington Library and the Barrington Countryside Fire District. The school district line, and the community college district that goes with it, is the difference.

McHenry County's tax year 2024 report lists code 19012, the District 220 side, at a total rate of 7.015434. Code 19017, the District 300 side, was 7.697233. In the tax year 2025 report, the order reversed.

In one tax year, the District 220 code went from the lower of the two to the higher one. The shared lines rose for both codes. The Barrington Hills Village rate went from 0.845101 to 0.939094, and Barrington Countryside Fire went from 0.486559 to 0.599203. Most of the gap between the two codes comes from the school line.

Here's what that looks like in dollars, using a hypothetical McHenry County parcel with $200,000 of taxable value before exemptions. On code 19012, the bill would have risen by about $2,600, from about $14,031 to about $16,633. On code 19017, it would have risen by about $300, from about $15,394 to about $15,693. For tax year 2024, that parcel would have cost about $1,364 less on the District 220 side. For 2025, it would cost about $940 more. McHenry County describes a township assessment set at roughly one-third of market value, followed by equalization, exemptions and the combined rate. The actual taxable value for any specific home comes from its own assessment.

Kane County Has Six Barrington Hills Tax Codes

The Kane County portion is split even more finely. The Kane County Clerk's 2025 Tax Code Rate Booklet lists six Dundee Township codes that include the Village of Barrington Hills:

• DU011, District 300: 7.745657
• DU040, District 300: 7.563486
• DU033, District 220: 7.200160
• DU034, District 220: 8.004902
• DU035, District 220: 7.999205
• DU059, District 220: 7.999205

The lowest and highest Kane codes are both on the District 220 side, and they're about 0.8 points apart. In Kane County, the school district alone doesn't tell you where a parcel lands. The other taxing bodies on each code make up the rest of the difference.

District 220's own rate also differs by county. For tax year 2025, it's printed as 4.881361 in Kane, up from 4.848603. Lake County certified it at 4.609121, up from 4.483512. McHenry printed 5.236751. Same district, same tax year, three different rates.

The Referendum Estimate Is Still Being Debated

Before the November 5, 2024 vote, District 220's referendum tax-impact page estimated about $236 more per year for an average household with a $500,000 market-value home, over 20 years.

In April 2026, as Lake County's May bills approached, the Cuba Township Assessor's office wrote to residents that the estimate "appears to be significantly understated." The letter said the actual impact may be closer to three times the estimated amount for similarly valued homes. It also said that most other taxing bodies now had lower rates while District 220's rate had increased. The Barrington Hills Observer published the letter.

District 220 disagrees. Its Transform 220 tax information page calls the three-times claim incorrect. It says independent analysis from the district's municipal advisor found the referendum's impact was consistent with, or slightly less than, the original estimate. The district says changes in individual bills come from factors outside its control.

Both sides agree on one thing. The referendum set a fixed borrowing amount, and how that amount is split among owners depends on assessments and on what every other taxing body does. The assessor's letter compares it to splitting a restaurant check. A parcel's share depends on which table it sits at, and in Barrington Hills there are many tables.

What This Changes When You Compare Two Listings

Taken together, the 2025 numbers make a village-wide tax rate a weak guide. A few practical points for buyers and investors:

1. Ask for the tax code, not just the tax amount. The code tells you which county, township, school district and fire district apply. You can then look up that code in the county clerk's rate report.
2. Compare rates only within the same county. Cook assesses residential property at 10 percent of market value and then applies a state multiplier, which was 3.0300 for 2025. The collar counties start from roughly one-third of market value. A Cook rate of 7.19 and a McHenry rate of 7.85 apply to different bases.
3. Check which tax year the listing shows. A tax figure from tax year 2024 on a McHenry District 220 parcel won't show the jump in the 2025 report. A Cook figure from before the September 2026 bills won't show the reassessment.
4. Look at the bill's history, not just its latest amount. One year flipped the order of two neighboring McHenry codes. The next set of rates, for tax year 2026, comes from the county clerks next spring.

This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Before you rely on a tax estimate, confirm your specific parcel with the county assessor, a tax professional or your lender.

Quick Answers

Is Barrington Hills in one county? No. It spans Cook, Lake, Kane and McHenry counties, and each county issues its own rates and bills.

Which school districts appear on Barrington Hills tax bills? The county reports show District 220 and District 300 codes within the village, in both the McHenry and Kane portions.

Why did my rate drop if my bill went up? In Cook County, the 2025 reassessment raised home values faster than business values. That pushed rates down while shifting more of the total onto homeowners. Higher levies, including the District 220 bond, added to that.

Comparing two Barrington Hills homes that sit in different tax codes, or weighing an estate as a long-term hold? I can pull the county rate reports for each parcel and walk through the numbers with you in English or Spanish. Let's Connect with Sandra Maldonado before tax costs decide your offer for you.