|
Cook County
Chicago, IL 60641 Campaign Contributions: ISBE Disclosure Reports I have served the Board of Review since 1980 with prior experience in the state legislature and a background in public finance, accounting and business. I started as Chief Clerk, managing the day-to-day operations of a burgeoning agency. I became commissioner in 1988, and since then I have witnessed an exponential rise in the number of appeals and a decline in our budget. Despite the loss of critical funding, the Board of Review has finished its work historically early, saving taxpayers and school districts money. The Board of Review is an independent agency that corrects property assessments placed on residential, commercial and industrial property by the Cook County Assessor. The Board, despite my opponent's misguided belief, has not granted an overwhelming share of valuation reductions to owners of commercial and industrial properties. Since the 2000 tax year, approximately 77% of all reductions were residential. The actual figures for this most recent seven (7) year period are: 523,141 parcels of residential property reduced and 156,476 parcels of non-residential property reduced. Homeowners representing themselves over the same period of time saw a success rate of 65%, greater than the 35-40% for attorneys. Campaign contributions are a necessary part of any political campaign and my least favorite part of being an elected official. The high cost of campaigning forces ALL public officials, my opponent included, to raise money. The Assessor, for example, accepts contributions from developers, attorneys and tax consultants and is, even now, urging them to contribute to my opponent. Naturally, donors are those who are most concerned with the efficient running of the office. Each of the three independently-minded commissioners employs a staff of highly professional administrators, deputies, and analysts, ensuring a system of checks and balances. Any contributions made by attorneys practicing before the Board of Review, have not and never will, influence the decisions made by myself or my fellow commissioners and their staffs. I have a progressive, positive vision for the future of the Board. We are bringing more technology and more efficiency to our process. We will debut a property search mechanism on our web site this year to allow more extensive queries of historical data. I have been in every community in my district urging people to challenge the unprecedented, skyrocketing increases by the Assessor. I am committed to the principle that no taxpayer, big or small, should pay more than his or her fair share. Campaign Contributions: ISBE Disclosure Reports E-mail this article to a friend | Printer friendly format |
