• Please evaluate the current performance of the office you seek, explain why you are qualified to hold that office, and what you wish to accomplish. Feel free to discuss your opponent(s).

    After nearly 30 years of experience with the tax system, I believe the current administration has lost touch with serving the taxpayers of Cook County.  The process lacks individual hearings that will bring taxpayers face to face with the analysts deciding their cases.  It suffers from an over-reliance upon computer generated results.  I intend to make fundamental changes in the office to correct these and other failings.  The Assessor’s Office lacks:

    The ability to evaluate current economic and market conditions. Assessments do not bear a real market relation to their respective market values. This has compounded with the downturn in the economy and real estate market.  The foundation of assessing is to accurately reflect the market. The practice of assessing on a basis other than market value has distorted the entire assessment system. Assessments must remain fair and equitable and if they fail, taxpayers must have real recourse to correct them.  Taxpayers are worried and fearful of assessment policies that raise property values while the economy is in at state of decline.  This policyhas drastically amplified the number of appeals at the Board of Review, Circuit Court, and the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, resulting in the enormous potential for future refunds.  This places an undue burden on the taxing bodies responsible for setting the budgets for schools, libraries, public improvements, and municipalities.

    An atmosphere focused on the taxpayer.  The office is reliant on computer analysis that does not adequately address individual concerns and issues with a particular property or case.  I plan to institute hearings for individual taxpayers so they will have the opportunity to speak with someone face to face. 

    A widespread outreach program.  The assessment process is shrouded in mystery.  I plan to assemble a team of experienced analysts and Taxpayer Assistance Specialists to reach out to individual taxpayers, community organizations and community leaders to keep the Assessor’s Office in touch with the true economic conditions and concerns of neighborhoods in the County.  The team will remove the mystery from the process and the office, making the office and process more accessible.

    I am uniquely qualified for the role of Assessor because I have more than 30 years of hands on experience adjudicating the value of real estate in Cook County.  I have heard thousands of appeals spanning the entire spectrum of value and complexity. The Assessor’s role requires a qualified candidate with experience in valuation, assessment administration, and working knowledge of finance.  I am extremely well qualified in all of these regards.  The stewardship of this important position cannot be left to someone without tangible ability and experience.

  • What three specific initiatives would you like to accomplish during the upcoming term in office?

    The following initiatives will be accomplished in my first term in office as Assessor:

    1. I will shift the focus of the office to the taxpayer. I will institute a hearing process so taxpayers will have a voice in correcting their assessments. I will create an Outreach Program similar to the enormously successful program at the Board of Review which will increase taxpayer resources and provide access to services to tens of thousands of homeowners. There will be a true Taxpayer Assistance team in the office. I will re-allocate employees to meet the demand of having direct contact with the citizens that pay their salaries. Finally, I will re-open all suburban offices to bring services closer to the people.

    2. I will work in Springfield to clarify, de-mystify, and simplify the homeowner’s exemption; reinstitute the 7% cap; and remove the artificial definitions of “household income” which serve to deny some exemption relief to our seniors.

    3. I will completely revise the reassessment notice to provide a total picture of not only the property’s assessment history, but will also include tax payments, sales, assessments of comparable properties in the area, appeal history, and other data to give a complete picture of the government’s record.

  • Do you favor eliminating the recorder’s office by merging it with the clerk’s office? Do you favor creating an office of tax administration to combine property tax functions of the auditor, clerk, treasurer and recorder? Please explain.

    I am in favor of streamlining any process that is unnecessarily duplicative or is not cost effective. However, streamlining should never be done at the expense of expertise and experience and certainly not without the input of the elected official charged with running the office.

  • If you ask the Cook County Board for a higher appropriation during your term, what tax increase or spending cuts will you propose to pay for it? Specify.

    I will not seek a higher appropriation during my term as Assessor and will instead offer a reduced fiscal budget beginning with the FY2011 budget. We will become more efficient, “lean and mean” as it were. Some positions will be consolidated, others eliminated through attrition, still others audited, and all subjected to periodic performance review. Further, I will re-allocate resources to better serve taxpayers.

  • What is the best way for Cook County government to advance economic development and create jobs?

    The Assessor plays an instrumental role in the economic development of the County. Unfair assessments cause disproportionate tax liabilities and the effect is that businesses move to Indiana, Will County, Du Page County, and other areas because of favorable taxes. Simply put, poor assessments cause businesses to close or move, families to lose jobs and it means the County loses the sales taxes and other benefits industry brings with it. Individuals also feel the sting of inaccurate and assessments that are not uniform. The best investment in economic development and jobs is an investment in the youth and our schools. This investment is jeopardized when the property tax causes an exodus of business and residents from Cook County. If elected Assessor I will work to level the playing field so that my office does not chase business or homeowners out of the County so that we have a mechanism to invest in our future.

  • Will you lower headcount and lower expenses in the office you seek? What do you propose?

    I will lower expenses and headcount in the office, which will require a substantial reorganization of positions and consolidation of functions. This will take time and may not translate into immediate reductions. I have been Commissioner in an office that has seen an enormous increase in workload these past several years and managed it with fewer employees and a budget that decreases every year.