Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

NRSC blasts Duckworth on tax day

Posted in:

Illinois

* From a press release…

Duckworth’s Double Dipping Past Haunts Her On Tax Day

WASHINGTON – With today being tax day, the NRSC is reminding voters that for four years Tammy Duckworth improperly claimed a homestead exemption on her properties in Cook and DeKalb Counties.

“With millions of people filing their taxes today, it’s worth noting that Tammy Duckworth was fined for improperly claiming tax exemptions,” said NRSC spokeswoman Andrea Bozek. “It’s ironic that in Congress Tammy Duckworth has no problem pushing higher taxes on Illinois families but when it comes to paying her own, she cheats the system.”

BACKGROUND …

From 2007-2010, Duckworth Improperly Claimed The Homestead Exemption On Properties She Owned In Cook And DeKalb Counties. “A suburban congressional candidate improperly claimed two homeowner exemptions at once over a period of several years, a Daily Herald investigation has found… County records show Duckworth claimed homestead exemptions in both DeKalb and Cook counties from 2007 to 2010.” (Kerry Lester, “Duckworth Claimed Two Homeowner Exemptions,” Daily Herald, 8/23/12)

Duckworth Unaware She Has A “Tax Problem.” “A spokeswoman says Duckworth was unaware that she’d been claiming the exemptions simultaneously.” (“Duckworth Double Dipped On Tax Exemption,” NBC, 8/23/2012)

Duckworth Paid Back The $1,928 In Taxes She Saved And Another $612 In Late Fees. “John Sullivan, an attorney who specializes in property tax appeals, said Duckworth contacted him weeks ago about the issue, and he computed how much she owed to DeKalb County. The four years of claiming the benefit in DeKalb County saved Duckworth $1,928, Brunschon said. Duckworth has sent a check to DeKalb County to cover what she would have paid without the exemption, plus an added $612 in late fees, Sullivan said. As of Tuesday afternoon, Brunschon had not yet received the check.” (Kerry Lester, “Duckworth Claimed Two Homeowner Exemptions,” Daily Herald, 8/23/12)

Duckworth Filed The First Homestead Exemption On The DeKalb Property After Purchasing The Property In 1997. “The DeKalb exemption was filed first, after Duckworth and her husband Bryan Bowlsbey purchased the property in 1997. In DeKalb County, Chief County Assessment Officer Robin Brunschon said, exemptions are automatically renewed each year unless residents notify the assessor’s office that they have changed their primary address.” (Kerry Lester, “Duckworth Claimed Two Homeowner Exemptions,” Daily Herald, 8/23/12)

Kinda weak. For starters, it’s not property tax day, it’s income tax day. And tons of people have found themselves in the same situation as Duckworth. Plus, it’s pretty old news.

But, whatevs. It does show how much the NRSC wants to thwack Duckworth early and often.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 8:46 am

Comments

Both the parties national committees produce weak and dreary stuff. Waste of time and money.

Comment by Wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 8:57 am
Didn’t Rauner have the same problem of claiming two homestead exemptions simultaneously? If it is a serious character issue for Duckworth, per the NRSC, then the same conclusion should be reached about Republicans who did the same thing.

Comment by nona Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 9:19 am
Duckworth’s main problem won’t be with silly stuff like this but with her performance when VA Director.

Comment by qcexaminer Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 9:29 am
Can’t speak to how good of an attack this is; it’ll depend on if/how they use it, a press release ain’t gonna do it (nor is it necessarily gonna be the end of it).

But I can say that this shows that national Republicans take Duckworth very seriously.

Comment by Arsenal Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 9:29 am
This is the kind of expensive drivel that makes campaigns cost so much.

Comment by VanillaMan Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 10:34 am
Not much meat on this bone. A lot of people with two homes here run into this pretty innocently. If anything the electronic and manual systems should prompt a question on this for the sake of taxing bodies. Individually it isn’t much, but collectively there could be a lot of money sitting out there among innocently mistaken people who’d be more than able and more than anxious to make amends quickly.

Comment by A guy Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 11:43 am
Funny, Bruce Rauner owns nine homes but somehow managed to avoid cheating on his taxes, but Duckworth can’t manage two.

Comment by gopower Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 3:54 pm
Gopower, you choose to be uninformed. Rauner’s double exemptions were raised in both the primary and general campaigns.

Comment by Wordslinger Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 3:56 pm
Wordslinger, I stand corrected.

I also missed the statements from various Democrats that Rauner had “fallen into” the “innocent error.”

Comment by gopower Wednesday, Apr 15, 15 @ 4:00 pm