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* Remember that somewhat odd Chris Kennedy video about property taxes yesterday? It outlined a problem, but offered no solution and wasn’t all that easy to watch, either.
Rick Pearson tried to follow up on a misleading aspect of the Kennedy video…
Kennedy’s statement that “because they pay less, we pay more” is arguably correct since a decline in property assessments on one property shifts the tax burden onto other property owners.
But Kennedy’s statement “because they pay less, our kids get less” isn’t true because schools have a fixed levy of money they request from property taxes. A decline in a property assessment doesn’t mean a decline in money that a school district will collect.
Asked about the misstatement, the Kennedy campaign offered a statement that did not address the question.
That campaign continually puzzles me.
*** UPDATE *** From the Kennedy campaign…
Sharing with you this comment that didn’t make it in morning spin, so for the record, we did address his question.
Chris Kennedy has been talking about how the property tax system is broken since before he was a candidate. It’s a prime example of Illinois’s regressive tax structure. The wealthy can catch breaks, which places a bigger tax burden on low-income and middle-class citizens. He knows this system doesn’t work for the vast majority of citizens and he’s the candidate who’s going to change it.
According to the Education Trust, Illinois school districts with the highest percentage of poor students received nearly 20 percent less funding than their more affluent peers. Meanwhile, poor and middle-class workers are paying more than their fair share. In fact, a WalletHub study reported that Illinois’s tax system receives more money from low-income and middle-class households than almost any other state in the country. We take more money from low-income and middle-class pockets and spend less on educating students from those same homes.
* And since Kennedy is complaining about property tax assessment appeals (including in a fundraising e-mail this morning), taking a look at his own appeals is fair game. But this one appears to be legit. Here’s Greg Hinz…
At issue is what the tax value should be on the 48-story apartment tower built on Wolf Point, the first of three large structures that are planned.
The tower opened for business early in 2016, and its value for tax purposes was initially set at $13.736 million by Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios—enough to pull in almost $3 million a year for local taxing bodies, primarily Chicago Public Schools. Kennedy and associates appealed, using the law firm of former Cook County Assessor Tom Tully, and the final value ended up being set at $5.109 million, a cut of almost 63 percent.
In an interview, Berrios’ top aide, Deputy Assessor for Valuation & Appeals Tom Jaconetty, not only defends the cut but suggests, in so many words, that the Kennedy group would have been fools not to seek it.
When a new building like this comes online, the assessor assumes that it is 100 percent occupied and producing a full revenue stream, Berrios said. In fact, that’s rarely the case, Jaconetty said, but it’s up to the owners to appeal. […]
In the case of the Wolf Point building, it had only 6 percent of its units rented and producing income in January when it opened, according to data collected by Appraisal Research Counselors, a Chicago consulting company. The figure jumped to 62.1 percent by July and kept climbing later in the year.
For tax year 2016, the county ended up settling on an average 33.8 percent occupancy figure. That change, combined with one internal math error, explains the 62 percent cut, Jaconetty said.
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:49 am
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Why does the Assessor’s office assume anything? How about checking the facts? Aren’t there enough Berrios relatives and friends employed as field representatives to canvass the property locations?
Comment by Walter Concrete Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:53 am
=That campaign continually puzzles me.= Have they hired a manager yet?
Comment by me Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:54 am
===That campaign continually puzzles me.===
You’re not the only one.
The Kennedy Campaign is like mowing a large meadow in such dense fog they don’t even know what’s being mowed where.
They want support, they don’t want endorsements. They want to be outsiders, then cite something from 57 years ago to justify their own outsider-ness. They wait to disclose health, but more than willing beforehand to have speculation on health. Now it’s taxes, but not Kemnedy’s, it’s a problem, but they have no concise solution, they want to ding everyone, hoping no one goes after them… It’s an odd campaign.
“That campaign continually puzzles me.”
Me too… me too.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 10:59 am
they need to explain this.
and, yes, the campaign has a manager. read about it here.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 11:01 am
Maybe Chris Kennedy wants to copy his father who ran against the party establishment and scored some major victories before his untimely death.
It is hard to fathom what the Kennedy campaign is doing.
Comment by Walter Concrete Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 11:02 am
The property tax cycle can be confusing. But Capital Fax readers are ahead of the curve
. As many posters pointed out last week when the JB’s appeal was a hot news item, taxing districts get their levy $ no matter what happens to any individual appeal.
Comment by Texas Red Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 11:03 am
When Reynolds Aluminum went out of business years ago, they disputed their property taxes. The case went on a long time and they were successful. The school district did end up having to repay funds. But that was a very unusual situation I think.
Comment by NoGifts Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 11:27 am
I never thought that Kennedy’s heart was in this. The message and energy just aren’t there. I suspect that he’ll be dropping out before too terribly long.
Comment by Pundent Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 11:38 am
Rauner will benefit if this race is going to be based in large part on property taxes in Illinois.
Comment by In A Minute Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 11:47 am
They are perpetually lost. Given a full day to sort it out; they still can’t.
Comment by A guy Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 11:49 am
Anyone in Cook County can appeal the value of the their property at the Assessor and Board of Review (BOR) each and every single year to reduce the assessment. Any reduction in assessment kicks in the following years’ second instalment tax bill. EASY ONLINE access too! Attorneys are getting paid only because people are too busy or unwilling to follow the required procedures and documentation to get it done. Any situation a normal property owner has including vacancy can be done with out legal help!
Jaconetty is the brains of the current administration and I find it interesting he’s the point man for reporters instead of their spokesman (Shaer). The real story here is why these attorneys get to DONATE MONEY to the very persons (Berrios) and (BOR Commisioners) political funds who their lively hoods depend upon. Conflict of interest anyone?
Comment by qualified someone nobody sent Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 12:09 pm
To the Update,
Talking around the subject again doesn’t really answer Kennedy’s own success, nor did it offer a solution.
Again, mowing a grass field in the fog isn’t working…
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 12:17 pm
It just feels like they keep publishing their first drafts.
Comment by Arsenal Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 12:39 pm
To the update: still doesn’t answer the question. At all.
Comment by JoeMaddon Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 1:53 pm
Awful, but 99% of the state isn’t paying attention anyway.
Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 1:56 pm
How many Kennedy campaign staffers pay property taxes? I suspect that his campaign is filled with inexperienced book-learned staffer capable of creating catch slogans, logos and signs, but completely clueless of the world the average Illinois homeowner lives in.
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 2:40 pm
Chris - skip the imported egg-head staffers and hire a few adults who have children, own homes, drink beer and care about the real world.
Ask them!
Comment by VanillaMan Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 2:43 pm
“Jaconetty is the brains of the current administration…”
He still finds plenty of time to practice law and he is especially busy when it is time to challenge nominating petitions. It must be nice to have a boss who allows you to moonlight.
Comment by Ward Heeler Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 2:56 pm
- Ward Heeler -
Go to law school, show a propensity for at least two forms of law, one including election law, see what happens.
Ugh.
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 2:59 pm
@Oswego Willy:
Been there. Done that.
Comment by Ward Heeler Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 3:13 pm
===Been there. Done that.===
Hmm…
===It must be nice to have a boss who allows you to moonlight.===
Was it nice? lol
You find religion for something you now say you’ve been there, done that?
So… it’s nice… but have been there and done it… why so wistful? lol
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 3:16 pm
Law school graduate. Did election work.
Grow up someday, Willy.
Comment by Ward Heeler Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 4:53 pm
===Law school graduate. Did election work.===
But… was it nice? You been there, done it, yet you wistfully wonder aloud, “It must be nice… ”
Very confusing… counselor.
You seem… bitter…
Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 4:55 pm
But Kennedy’s statement “because they pay less, our kids get less” isn’t true because schools have a fixed levy of money they request from property taxes. A decline in a property assessment doesn’t mean a decline in money that a school district will collect.
_____________________
This isnt that hard a statement to understand. Say, all these special interests get tax reductions. Someone has to pay them. Now a constituent has to pay more for their taxes. That means that constituent has less money for their kids….
Whats so hard to understand about that?
Comment by A Modest Proposal Tuesday, May 23, 17 @ 8:19 pm
I didn’t see anything showing the assessor office “assumed” anything or didn’t check the facts. I do see a lot of whining because a wealthy person got a lower assessment–which everyone is entitled to if their new building isn’t yet renting most of its units. I wish I owned a building, but if I did and the law says less revenue = less taxes, I wouldn’t want an uninformed person like Kennedy or anybody saying I shouldn’t get what I’m entitled to. I bet no one complained when Berrios or somebody raised Kennedy’s amount when his rentals increased. Hey, how come Kennedy gets the reduction then his employee says it’s part of a broken system???
Comment by Illinois Kid Illinois Guy Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 7:49 am
I’ve always liked Chris Kennedy but I don’t understand his lack of information and his incorrect statements. The Trib and Capitol Fax pointed out the errors, inconsistencies and his not answering follow up questions. Chris, I was a Ted Kennedy delegate in 1980. You can do better than this.
Comment by Ed From Evanston Wednesday, May 24, 17 @ 1:10 pm