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* Heh…
House Republican Leader Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs) and State Representative and Grant Wehrli (R-Naperville) introduced legislation to make property tax vacancy fraud a Class 4 felony in Illinois after a Cook County Inspector General found that J.B. Pritzker knowingly committed fraud to avoid paying $330,000 in taxes.
“The Cook County Inspector General’s report made it very clear that J.B. Pritzker has defrauded all the taxpayers of Cook County.” said Durkin. “The General Assembly needs to address this issue to make sure those who commit fraud are held accountable.”
The report found that Pritzker knowingly removed all the toilets from his mansion to deem it uninhabitable in order to evade hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes. This new legislation will bring forth serious criminal charges to those who think they deserve more of a tax break than the hard-working citizens of Illinois.
“Why should Mr. Pritzker, an inherited billionaire who hasn’t worked a day in his life, get to save hundreds of thousands in taxes when the people of Illinois are working tirelessly just to make ends meet?” asked Wehrli. “It is clear Mr. Pritzker will only put his own self-interests above the taxpayers, and now more than ever we don’t need another Democrat who manipulates the system to benefit his own pockets.”
* From the bill’s synopsis…
Provides that a person commits property tax vacancy fraud when he or she knowingly owns vacant property and, for 2 or more consecutive years in which vacancy relief is granted, has not actively attempted to sell, lease, or alter the vacant property. Provides that property tax vacancy fraud is a Class A misdemeanor. Provides that a person commits aggravated property tax vacancy fraud when he or she commits property tax vacancy fraud that leads to the assessment of more than $100,000 in back taxes. Provides that aggravated property tax vacancy fraud is a Class 4 felony.
Yeah, that’ll zoom right out of Rules.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 12:46 pm
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===The report found that Pritzker knowingly removed all the toilets from his mansion to deem it uninhabitable in order to evade hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.===
Makes you wonder if a toilet could remove itself so that such an event would not be considered fraudulent.
Comment by Commonsense in Illinois Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 1:07 pm
FakeGrantWehrli - Mautino, toilets, fraud, I’m a conservative, I support Rauner, Democrat bad. #AutoTroll
To the post,
Funny, you’d think if someone did a little oppo on themselves, they woulda fix the property tax thingy months and months ago.
Now you get political bills to point to gross negligence.
Pritzker is up double digits, maybe over 20 points… Rauber keeps pulling up around 27%.
It might not matter in the end, but, like watching baseball, you can have a team with 4 mental errors, get runs off another team far worse than yours, and the box score really won’t show much other than the score.
It’s a head scratcher how this has unraveled.
Y’all have Grant Wehrli trolling ya, and he’s makin’ points.
Comment by Oswego Willy Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 1:13 pm
The nice thing about this Bill is that it would have absolutely no unintended consequences for property owners or property values.
Comment by Ravenswood Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 1:19 pm
Someone wrote the rules, someone approved the lowering of property taxes. Shouldn’t we be investigating the investigators? It seems that anyone can ask for a reduction, but it has to be granted for them to get it. Just my 2 cents.
Comment by Retired Educator Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 1:20 pm
I think this is rather short sighted by Durkin considering that Durkin will have work with Governor Pritzker on a budget.
The Republicans are doing a good job showing their partisan colors which certainly will help boost Democratic voter turnout.
Comment by A Jack Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 1:57 pm
Durkin is working for the king of callous disregard and this is his answer?
Maybe get back to me after you drive Rauner out of office for the Quincy deaths.
Comment by JS Mill Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 2:02 pm
Okay, let’s say your an entrepreneur who buys houses for investment purposes — your a flipper or a rehabber. For whatever reason, you’re not going to fix up and sell or rent the house for a year or two. Your accountant informs you that you can save a few tax dollars if you do a little early demo work (like removing the toilets and shutting off the gas,) to render the house uninhabitable. Grant Wehrli and Pat Brady think you’re a felon?
Listen, Pritzker deserves all the political heat he’s taking for this…he’s a billionaire, not a flipper or rehabber. But let’s be real careful before we criminalize this behavior.
Comment by Plant Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 2:02 pm
This is a bill that very literally makes it a crime to own real property that decreases in market value for 2 consecutive years unless said owner is attempting to sell or improve the property.
The party of limited government just proposed that state government should fully oversee the real property market statewide.
Reps. Durkin & Wehrli, please take a step back and think about messaging here.
Comment by Midstate Indy Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 2:04 pm
After seein the list from the prior ranking of the richest people in IL. Let’s investigate every possible loophole that Ken Griffin or Sam Zell have jumped through. I can guarantee there are stepps that everyone on that list has taken that would have people in arms. Still a stupid error on JBs part for it to even been in the news at this time.
Comment by Mongo Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 2:06 pm
“Makes you wonder if a toilet could remove itself…”
Liberace had toilets that revolved back into the wall after use. Because no matter how you decorate it, it’s still a toilet.
Comment by a drop in Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 2:42 pm
Durkin’s bill would be more palatable if it also made it a felony to claim homestead exemptions on three residences.
Comment by anon2 Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 2:53 pm
@commonsense in Illinois, the alleged fraud was the correction/refund. The IG is alleging Pritzker’s wife and brother in law lied in affidavits saying the toilets had been taken out in 2012, when they were taken out in 2015. The exact language is ambiguous, IMO, but whatevs. Simply ripping out the toilets would not have been fraud, or at least no one else has said it would, to my knowledge.
Comment by Perrid Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 3:01 pm
I believe Robert Martwick introduced a similar bill to this in 2016 that didn’t go anywhere and that bill was a lot less punitive. Obviously this bill is not going anywhere, but I would like to see Martwick continue to push his bill.
Comment by Chicagonk Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 3:06 pm
Midstate, I’ve asked the Realtors for comment. Let’s see if they get back to me.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 3:09 pm
==The IG is alleging Pritzker’s wife and brother in law lied in affidavits==
Pritzker’s wife never submitted an affidavit.
Comment by Ravenswood Wednesday, Oct 3, 18 @ 3:51 pm