Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas has provided a valuable service to all city and suburban taxpayers by issuing her "Pappas Study," John Kass writes in the Chicago Tribune.

She found that homeowners and business property owners in Cook County have seen property tax bills skyrocket by 99% over the past two decades, far surpassing inflation (36%) and wage growth (57%). And in Chicago, property taxes rose by 115%.

Pappas worries that some taxpayers won't be able to pay their bills. I've had political differences with her in the past. But Pappas had the guts to tell people the truth, though it makes some of her fellow Democratic Party elected officials rather uncomfortable. And for this she's to be commended.

Read the column.