Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Thursday announced Cook County will extend the deadline of its Property Tax Bridge Fund Program to Friday, September 9, 2022, at 5 p.m. This will give interested local taxing bodies and governments an extra week to apply for hundreds of millions of dollars in no interest loans. The Bridge Fund Program was launched at the beginning of August to offer local taxing jurisdictions a lower-cost borrowing option for local taxing bodies. Qualifying taxing bodies such as municipalities, park districts, schools, etc. have been able to apply for a short-term loan with the County. Requirements for the program include participants needing to demonstrate they have less than four months (120 days) of cash on hand as well as a bond rating lower than the County’s. The County’s current ratings are “A2” from Moody’s, “A+” from S&P, and “AA-” from Fitch. If a local taxing jurisdiction does not have an up-to-date rating, then it will be assumed to be weaker than the County’s. Additional information and documents for local taxing bodies is available at cookcountyil.gov/bridgefund.