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* UPDATED x1 - Kennedy responds * Orr piles on Berrios

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With questions swirling around his record as Cook County assessor, Joseph Berrios will take the unprecedented step Tuesday of defending his office before the Cook County Board after a Chicago Tribune investigation exposed widespread inequities in the county’s property tax system.

Published in June, “The Tax Divide” showed the assessor’s office overvalued low-priced homes while undervaluing high-priced ones. These disparities in assessments — known as regressivity — led to inequities in property tax bills, giving the wealthy unsanctioned tax breaks while penalizing low-income residents.

In the weeks since, mounting pressure has put the assessor on the defensive. The county’s independent inspector general opened an investigation; lawmakers at the state and local levels proposed legislation to limit the assessor’s ability to raise campaign contributions from tax attorneys; and a bill has been introduced in the General Assembly that would require greater transparency.

Among the questions Berrios is likely to face at Tuesday’s hearing: Why did his office tout and then quietly abandon a new residential valuation model funded by the MacArthur Foundation designed to reduce regressivity?

Go read the whole thing. Whew.

* From a letter sent to the Cook County Board by County Clerk David Orr…

I am very concerned that the problems with the assessment process have not been corrected. In 2015, Assessor Berrios, while announcing a new assessment model, stated that the assessment system was regressive. Regressivity hurts low and middle income residents the most—putting them on the hook for a larger property tax bill than they should be paying. We have now learned that the new model, which was created to address regressivity, was never—or only partially—implemented.

The Cook County Clerk’s Office is an integral part of the property tax system and we rely on accurate and fair assessments from the County Assessor’s Office to determine property tax rates.

I am aware that Assessor Berrios and President Preckwinkle are looking for experts to bring solutions and transparency to the assessment process. Still, two question must be asked: (1) why is the Assessor’s Office not using the model that, in 2015, they publicly touted would significantly alleviate this problem and, (2) what assessment model is the office currently using?

Three substantive studies have already been conducted: a 2011 study by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; a University of Chicago analysis commissioned by the Assessor in 2014 and funded by the MacArthur Foundation; and the Chicago Tribune investigation. Clearly, there is a crisis to solve and we must begin—as you are today—by speaking with the experts that have already spent countless hours studying the assessment process and developing stronger models.

If the choice is to move forward with an expert to offer solutions to the assessment system, then the selection process cannot be conducted behind closed doors. My office, and the other Cook County offices that administer the property tax system, must be involved. We need all hands on deck to assure the public that the property tax system is fair and transparent. Finally, any study of the crisis we face must be conducted with all deliberate speed.

The assessment process is complex. However, there has been a lack of transparency from the Assessor’s Office. The public cannot afford any delay in implementing real solutions.

*** UPDATE *** Chris Kennedy…

Joe Berrios today tried to defend the rigged property tax system in Illinois. All today’s testimony speaks to is the need to overhaul a property tax system that discriminates, preys on our most vulnerable communities and leads to inequities in access to education.

While reputable academic institutions are laying out concrete evidence about the broken system, elected officials are keeping quiet about the need to implement policy changes for fear of not getting political insider support for their next election. I have laid out real reforms that need to be adopted, including banning elected officials from serving as property tax attorneys and ending campaign contributions from property tax lawyers to the assessors’ office.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 11:27 am

Comments

I’m really going to enjoy David Orr’s take on the world as a private citizen. Looks like he’s just warming up.

Comment by Biker Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 11:32 am
Not that the County can afford it but it is surprising a class action has not yet been filed in federal court. The Trib series laid out a pretty interesting discrimination theory which someone is likely to take a run at.

Comment by Sue Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 11:34 am
And we remember Orr doin’ a cracker jack job on elections…..oh and writin’ earlier tax reports in invisible ink.

Comment by Annonin' Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 11:47 am
The silence from Preckwinkle is deafening. She is among Berrios’ chief enablers — every bit as much as Madigan. Would be nice if the media would call her out.

Comment by Anon414 Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 11:52 am
oh, sure, now that you don’t want to get elected again you get the truth going. not brave.

Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 11:52 am
Orr is definitely one of the “good” guys in Cook County.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 12:18 pm
So, as of this hour the Rauner staff purge thread has 72 comments and this one about the assessments mess has 6. Which topic do average voters care about and pay attention to? I think I know.

Comment by Responsa Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 1:25 pm
The entire property tax system in Cook County is a terrific shell game. The Democrats have controlled the lucrative Assessor’s Office since the “reform” legislation enacted during the Great Depression was signed by Governor Emmerson.

Almost every residential property in Cook County is over-assessed by design. If the owner files and appeal, the Assessor or the Board of Review kicks back a few dollars and everyone is happy, especially the lawyers who handle the appeals and keep a percentage of the reduction as a fee. The lawyers contribute to the Assessor and the Board of Review members and the cycle of money changing continues.

It would be hilarious if the conflicts of interest were not so obvious. There was one employee of the Assessor that I recall who moonlighted as a real estate appraiser.

Only in Cook County!

Comment by Former Assessor Employee Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 2:09 pm
Bruce Rauner is threatening to shut down our schools, and Chris Kennedy is focused on attacking Joe Berrios.

Comment by Free Set of Steak Knives Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 5:05 pm
Chris, raise some money and then you can have your opinion. K thanks.

Comment by Anon Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 5:49 pm
Kennedy should just run for Cook County Assessor and be done with it.

Comment by Oswego Willy Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 5:52 pm
Kennedy is the only Democrat I will consider. The others are awful.

Comment by Ron Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 7:46 pm
I think we know Kennedy will never be first at anything after this quarter.

Comment by Almost The Weekend Tuesday, Jul 18, 17 @ 8:26 pm