Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas announced that first-installment 2000 property tax bills and informational brochures are being mailed Saturday and Monday. Pappas advised taxpayers to use suburban LaSalle Bank sites to avoid construction-related inconveniences at the suburban courthouse payment centers, which will be open only Feb. 1 through March 7.

The first-installment tax bills are due March 1. By law, they are mailed 30 days prior to the due date. The first-installment bills are estimates equal to one-half of the prior years taxes. The tax bills affect the owners of 1.6 million parcels of real estate in Cook County.

"Again, we're emphasizing convenience with the option of making payments at more than 100 LaSalle Bank locations across Chicagoland," Pappas said. We also are urging taxpayers to avoid the courthouses in the suburbs, some of which have renovation projects that will reduce access and may require manual processing of payments. Most LaSalle Banks feature drive-up windows and weeknight and weekend hours.

The Skokie courthouse is rebuilding its parking, and most visitors will need to use shuttle buses to reach the site. At the Maywood courthouse, rewiring work may affect the cashiering system. If payments must be processed manually, taxpayers should expect lines.

Taxpayers who do not receive their bills by Sat., Feb. 3, 2001 should contact the office at (312) 443-5100 or by e-mail at info@cookcountytreasurer.com.