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* Joe Berrios is the Cook County Assessor. His office controls property tax assessments. It does not control the actual property tax levy…
Rauner held news conference in Wheeling at the home of Michael and Marianne Murphy. The governor accused Berrios of running a rigged system that benefits tax attorneys like the governor’s political nemesis, House Speaker Michael Madigan, and wealthy property owners such as his potential opponent for governor, billionaire J.B. Pritzker. […]
Mrs. Murphy tells ABC7 that several years ago they personally appealed the property taxes and were able to get them reduced by $100. She said she does not know enough about the way the assessor’s office operates to comment on whether Berrrios should resign.
“So in the last 10 years, our property value, our assessed value has gone down 25 percent and in the last 10 years our property taxes have increased 50 percent,” Marianne Murphy said.
So… you’re saying… Berrios… did his job?
One reason this property tax issue is so great for populist politicians is that not many people really understand it.
* As the Sun-Times noted earlier today, Gov. Rauner appointed Ms. Murphy to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board late last year…
The Rauner campaign said her appointment was to an unpaid, volunteer board, which was approved by the Illinois Senate.
Pritzker campaign…
Today, Bruce Rauner held a campaign press conference at the home of one of his government appointees, Marianne Murphy, calling into question what his exiled general counsel, Dennis Murashko, would say about his overlap of government and political work.
Rauner appointed Murphy to the Illinois Health Facilities and Services Review Board in December 2016. Murashko penned an eight-page memo — which reportedly did not sit well with Rauner — detailing ethical guidelines between Rauner’s government and political operations. The question is, would Murashko find this campaign stunt unethical?
“If Bruce Rauner hadn’t already gotten rid of Dennis Murashko, then surely the general counsel would have objected to today’s campaign stunt at the home of a government employee,” said Pritzker campaign spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh. “Until we know why Murashko resigned, questions will continue to swirl about this failed governor and his ethical boundaries.”
She’s not really an “employee.” She’s an unpaid board member. There’s more than a little difference here.
…Adding… DGA…
“Bruce Rauner has no shame,” said DGA Illinois Communications Director Sam Salustro. “Rauner has consistently blurred the line between political and public events, and is actively trying to hide a memo from his own lawyer advising to be careful about mixing events. Now he’s using state board members he appointed to delivery his campaign message. Rauner’s hypocrisy knows no bounds.”
* From the governor’s remarks today…
“Here in Cook County, we have a corrupt, abusive property tax system that is rigged to benefit political insiders. It is orchestrated by Boss Mike Madigan. He has his puppet Joe Berrios do his bidding on property tax assessments, and it’s all to benefit insiders like Pritzker who save themselves hundreds of thousands, millions of dollars through a rigged system, all of which hurts the middle class in the state of Illinois and here in Cook County.”
“Joe Berrios, Mike Madigan, and J.B. Pritzker are the unholy trinity of collusion, corruption, conflicts of interest in our property tax system. It’s given us the highest property taxes in America here, and it’s benefitting political insiders and the wealthy who get special deals from Madigan and Berrios while the middle class suffers from brutally high property taxes.”
“Every dollar that Madigan and Berrios take in savings for wealthy, connected downtown building owners is a dollar that your average working family in the state has to put in more into the system to properly fund the schools. It’s rigged, it’s corrupt, it’s wrong, and it has to change.”
Essentially what the governor and others are arguing for are higher assessments on downtown commercial properties to help out everyone else in the city and the county. It’s really hard to argue against that, unless, of course, you own commercial properties in the currently booming downtown area, or you have a business that can’t afford to pay even higher downtown rents.
You could even argue that forcing downtown properties to pay significantly higher taxes could damage downtown’s prosperity. And that area (along with O’Hare) is one of the biggest economic engines in the entire Midwest. Lots of regular folks depend on a robust, thriving downtown.
I’m just saying here that Republicans tend to use those sorts of arguments in favor of giving breaks to businesses.
* In other news…
Lottery drawing put Berrios on ballot first
Kaegi second #ILMarchPrimary— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) December 11, 2017
A third Democratic candidate, Andrea Raila, filed on the last day and will have the third spot on the ballot. Kaegi will probably need to persuade her to get off the ticket to enhance his chances.
posted by Rich Miller
Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:10 pm
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“Mrs. Murphy tells ABC7….She said she does not know enough about the way the assessor’s office operates to comment on whether Berrrios should resign.”
Not the greatest comment to make when Professor Rauner is lecturing in your yard.
Comment by Anon221 Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:15 pm
‘I am just saying here that Republicans tend to use those sorts of arguments in favor of giving breaks to business.’
Amen. Someone who could articulate better than old Blue.
And they call it economic development.
Comment by blue dog dem Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:17 pm
The issue is the inconsistent methodology used to determine values. From what evidence there is, there is reason to believe Mr. Berrios has had staff who haven’t engaged in fair valuations of property. And yes, this is a big deal to everyone in Cook County because those who aren’t taxed on the real value of their property make the rest of us pay more. The extra legal work is just icing on the cake. But again, will this matter to most Cook County voters. I have yet to see numbers that proof that conclusion.
Comment by NeverPoliticallyCorrect Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:17 pm
Next, Rauner does a presser in Ken Griffin’s backyard telling us that taxes on modern art should be lowered to spur investments.
Comment by VanillaMan Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:26 pm
===The issue is the inconsistent methodology===
Oh, it’s consistent alright.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:31 pm
Pritzker paid 0.3% of his mansion’s value in property taxes, while a struggling Mexican-American family in Hegewisch pays 3% of value in property taxes.
I’m a centrist Dem who 2x voted for President Obama.
But I will not vote for someone like Pritzker who games the property tax game at the expense of the working and middle-class
In fact, if I have to choose between Pritzker and Rauner, I will vote for Rauner
Comment by FearTheTree Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:48 pm
It’s not a consistent methodology.
Google, professor chris berry cook county property tax.
Berry, a U of Chicago Professor, showed that the Cook County Property Tax Code is REGRESSIVE, and NOT UNIFORM, NOT CONSISTENT.
According to Professor Berry, the working and middle-class pay FAR MORE in property taxes than the affluent
Comment by Anonymous Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:51 pm
===I’m a centrist Dem who 2x voted for President Obama.===
Ok…
===In fact, if I have to choose between Pritzker and Rauner, I will vote for Rauner===
… and yet, it was Rauner himself with multiple homeowner exemptions, then clouted his denied, Winnetka-living daughter into Payton Prep… a CPS school… over a worthy child… while also having multiple homeowner exemptions..,
… and you’d choose Pritzker over Rauner.
Very telling, lol
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:53 pm
== According to Professor Berry, the working and middle-class pay FAR MORE in property taxes than the affluent ==
Taxing the poor instead of the rich is consistent … not fair, but consistent.
Comment by RNUG Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:55 pm
===In fact, if I have to choose between Pritzker and Rauner, I will vote for Rauner===
As someone who spent the morning on this blog ragging Pritzker … no. Don’t do this. Take issue with the tax thing, fine, but know that Rauner is also a billionaire who has skimmed the system for every dime. That’s one of the ways you become so wealthy.
And given that Rauner has a proven track record of demolishing the Illinois social safety net (among about a million other issues for a centrist Democrat), your protest vote would be sorely misplaced.
Comment by PJ Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 3:56 pm
==I’m a centrist Dem who 2x voted for President Obama.
But I will not vote for someone like Pritzker who games the property tax game at the expense of the working and middle-class
In fact, if I have to choose between Pritzker and Rauner, I will vote for Rauner==
Good grief. You’re going to have to get a lot better at subtlety if you want to succeed here. You might have better luck at this in the trib comment section, or the IPI Facebook page - they eat that kind of stuff up.
Are you one of the new guys from Wisconsin, come in with Betsy Ankey? If so, welcome to Illinois!
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:04 pm
==clouted his denied, Winnetka-living daughter into Payton Prep… a CPS school… over a worthy child… while also having multiple homeowner exemptions..==
That’s not how verbs work. Clout is a two-way street. CPS and Rauner agreed to enter into what appears to be a lawful arrangement under CPS’s rules. Your complaint seems, then, to be with CPS.
Comment by Chris Widger Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:06 pm
govenor your saying property tax is local, and your helpless to help the other 101 countys. property tax reform was a scam to end prevailing wage
Comment by Rabid Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:10 pm
===CPS and Rauner agreed to enter into what appears to be a lawful arrangement under CPS’s rules. Your complaint seems, then, to be with CPS.===
Nope. Not according to the Inspector Gevenersl that looked into how Rauner’s daughter actually got clouted in, versus other mechanisms to jump the line that Rauner tried to pass off as a “possible” explanation.
If you’d like, I’ll give a link for it…
Who do I believe, your odd-worded response, or the Inspector General who also was in Chicago Tonight.
You choose.
Comment by Oswego Willy Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:10 pm
==CPS and Rauner agreed to enter into what appears to be a lawful arrangement under CPS’s rules==
Only when Bruce’s good friend, liberal democrat and Obama appointee Arne Duncan, is in charge of CPS. I wonder what Jeanne Ives or other ILGOP members would have to say about “clout” when it is employed by mutual friends of Bruce Rauner and Barack Obama?
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:14 pm
wondering about Andrea Raila. she’s done this work for years. why shouldn’t Kaegi drop out?
Comment by Amalia Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:16 pm
That statement by Rauner — when did he hire John Kass to become his speechwriter? Some serious conspiracy theory stuff in there!
Comment by You could say that, I couldn't comment Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:20 pm
anyone think it’s a coincidence that Berrios has two challengers to divide up the anti-Berrios vote?
I sure don’t. SOP — standard operating procedure.
Comment by jim Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:24 pm
===the working and middle-class pay FAR MORE in property taxes than the affluent ===
Like I said. Consistent.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:24 pm
The number one campaign issue should be changing the funding of schools from local property tax based to a state income tax based. There is no other issue that effects both poor/middle classes and businesses.
Comment by blue dog dem Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:28 pm
===I’m a centrist Dem who 2x voted for President Obama.===
Here’s what this commenter left out from a previous comment…
—centrist Dem who voted 2x for President Obama, but supported DJT last cycle===
https://capitolfax.com/2017/06/20/live-coverage-gov-rauners-unity-address/#comment-12754844
DJT got 39 percent of the vote in Illinois.
Comment by Rich Miller Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:28 pm
And the Democratic Party is making the same mistake that the DNC did in 2016.
I would have voted again for President Obama, were that possible, in 2016. And I would have eagerly voted for Senator Sanders (who I supported in the primary).
But the DNC stole the nomination from Sanders.
So I supported DJT
Comment by FearTheTree Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:42 pm
==But the DNC stole the nomination from Sanders.
So I supported DJT==
Oh god, another Bernie bro. That’s fine then, vote for Rauner. It’d be a waste of our time trying to explain it all.
But hey, at least I was wrong and you’re not a Wisconsinite, come down for the re-elect. Point in your favor, good sir.
Comment by Lester Holt’s Mustache Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:51 pm
===But the DNC stole the nomination from Sanders===
Sanders is not now, nor has he ever been, a Democrat. And if you voted for Donald Trump, neither are you.
Comment by 47th Ward Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 4:55 pm
The solution is likely to assess all property at 33.33% (or 100% if we’re going for transparency) and have the assessor value property fairly across all property types. I’d be real curious to see how that would shift the tax burden.
I always got the feeling that the assessor (Berrios and Houlihan) assessed commercial property much lower as a way to take some of the sting out of the difference in assessment ratios for commercial and residential properties.
Comment by Sox Fan Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 5:07 pm
I love people who want sole ownership of pur corrupt twoo party system. That must be a real.badge of honor to tell someone they are not part of such honored company
Comment by Blue dog dem Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 5:17 pm
Fear- well played, you should be super excited for Jeanne then.
Comment by DuPage Bard Monday, Dec 11, 17 @ 5:18 pm