Press Archive - 2007

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December 28, 2007
Chicago, IL Rumors abound that new Chicago Tribune owner Sam Zell is considering the feasibility of converting the Tribune Tower into condominiums. If that happens, it will be the hottest residential project in years.

December 12, 2007
Chicago, IL The Cook County Board has rejected several proposals for tax increases and instead has decided to cut operating expenses 10% across the board.

December 10, 2007
Springfield, IL House Speaker Madigan has announced his support of a bill which would create a casino to be owned by the City of Chicago.

November 15, 2007
Chicago, IL Cook County Clerk David Orr has released a report on TIF's which indicates that Cook County TIF's took in $800 million in property tax revenue during tax year 2006. A copy of the report is available at Mr. Orr's web site

November 14, 2007
Chicago, IL The Cook County Treasurer has announced that the 2007 Scavenger Sale will be held December 20, 2007 to January 7, 2008.

November 13, 2007
Chicago, IL The Chicago City Council has approved Mayor Daley's proposed 2008 budget of $5.9 billion including a $86 million property tax increase.

November 7, 2007
Chicago, IL The City of Chicago is considering a new "Services Assessment Fee". The tax would be a flat rate of .40 PSF on all commercial space in the downtown area.

November 2, 2007
Chicago, IL The 2d installment of the 2006 tax bill is in the mail. Payment is due on December 3, 2007 and can be made at any Chase Bank facility.

October 18, 2007
Chicago, IL Cook County Board President Todd Stroger is proposing over $800 million in tax increases as he attempts to balance the 2008 budget. The bulk of the new taxes would come from sales, utility and property taxes.

October 12, 2007
Springfield, IL The 7% Tax Cap bill (HB 664) has become law. Approval by the Cook County Board is expected soon. The 2d installment 2006 Cook County tax bills should be in the mail by the end of October.

October 4, 2007
Springfield, IL The Illinois House of Representatives has passed and sent to the senate, a bill which is identical to the bill it passed on August 10, 2007. That bill, (HB 664) renewed the 7% Tax Cap for an additional 3 years.
In a related story, Cook County Assessor Houlihan accused the house leadership of playing "political games".

October 2, 2007
Springfield, IL The Illinois House of Representatives has voted to reject almost all of the governor's amendatory vetoes including the 7% Tax Cap.

October 1, 2007
Chicago, IL Mayor Daley is advocating a property tax increase as he attempts to plug a $193 million budget deficit. Meanwhile, the Cook County Board has delayed consideration of a proposal which would increase the county sales tax by 2 basis points.

September 25, 2007
Chicago, IL In what is perceived as a race against the RTA, the Cook County Board is considering an increase in their sales tax rate from .50% to 2.50%.

September 20, 2007
Chicago, IL Governor Blagojevich has signed an amendatory veto of legislation which creates the 7% Tax Cap, in effect putting the Cook County tax collection system into a state of chaos. The amendatory veto now goes back to the General Assembly for their approval.

September 12, 2007
Chicago, IL Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas has issued the following press release:
"Property tax bills for the Second Installment of tax year 2006 cannot be mailed until action on tax-cap legislation is completed by state government. At this point, we do not know when or if that legislation will become law. Cook County will calculate and mail the bills when this situation is resolved at the state level".

September 6, 2007
Chicago, IL Mayor Daley has called upon Governor Blagojevich to sign legislation which renews the 7% Tax Cap. The legislation was passed by the General Assembly on August 10, 2007.

August 29, 2007
Chicago, IL Democratic Party Chairman Joseph Berrios presided over 1,700 attendees, at a dinner party honoring Mayor Richard M. Daley. Mayor Daley delivered a speech where he addressed the issues of unity and leadership.

August 24, 2007
Carpentersville, IL An ongoing study being conducted by The Champion Foundation has found that full-time public school teachers and administrators in Illinois receive average pay increases and estimated pensions far above those seen by private sector workers.

Governor orders property reassessment in Marion County

INDIANAPOLIS (July 18, 2007) – Governor Mitch Daniels today ordered a reassessment of all real property in Marion County property based on evidence that  business assessments were either left undone or performed inaccurately, contributing to an unfair tax burden on homeowners. The governor also said he will freeze tax bills for Marion County at 2006 amounts and recommended that the county issue provisional bills until the reassessment is completed and new bills are issued.

“We’re here to solve problems, and we’re beginning with the immediate -- at least in Marion County -- today. People need relief now, and we can’t have people losing their homes because of unfair taxes,” said Daniels.

As he addressed immediate property tax problems in Marion County, Daniels also announced a plan to seek long-term solutions for reform and restructuring of local civil and school government. He named Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Randall T. Shepard and former Governor Joe Kernan to co-chair a commission that will examine and make recommendations on such topics as what local government offices could be eliminated to achieve efficiencies and cost-savings and how local governments might restructure or consolidate to reduce overhead and other expenses.

Daniels decided to order the Marion County reassessment after receiving a recommendation from Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) Commissioner Cheryl Musgrave.  The DLGF and the state’s government efficiency group have been poring through parcel data for the county in recent days. Musgrave outlined findings that prompted her recommendation in a memo to the governor. For example, assessed value for nearly three-fourths (16,000 of 22,100) of commercial and industrial parcels in Marion County did not change at all over a six-year period. 

The state will take charge of the commercial and industrial reassessment in Marion County using professional assessment assistance and instruct county officials to do the residential work. Marion County property taxpayers will receive bills with a new 2007 amount promptly after the reassessment is completed and tax rates certified, a process that is expected to take six to eight months.

To begin the formal process of initiating a Marion County reassessment, the DLGF has issued a resolution that calls for a public hearing in 10 days. Following the public hearing, DLGF will issue an order to reassess.

The governor said it is likely that reassessments will be ordered for other counties, but so far, many have not complied with state law to provide the detailed parcel information they are required to send that will enable analysis of assessments. The DLGF has begun to review information for Gibson County, whose homeowners have received property tax bills with average increases of more than 35 percent. Aggregate tax data for that county indicates a problem similar to that of Marion County.

The DLGF will send a demand letter to counties that have not sent their data to the state or have provided noncompliant data. Counties for priority attention include Elkhart, Delaware and Jefferson, but all will be closely examined. There are only 18 counties in complete compliance.

Daniels again asked legislators to consider his proposals for use of a local circuit breaker to provide direct relief to those who need it most and to convert the rebate to a property tax credit that would be more immediate.

On July 14, the governor sent legislative leaders a letter suggesting that counties be given the ability to use their share of $300 million appropriated for property tax relief this fiscal year to target property tax relief to those hardest hit through a locally-designed “circuit breaker”. That could come in a number of forms, including capping bills at a certain percentage of a home’s gross assessed value, at a certain percentage of the owner’s adjusted gross income, at a maximum percentage or dollar amount increase, by setting aside a certain percentage of the county fund for those on fixed incomes, or by any other method fitting the local situation.

Counties not choosing a targeted approach would stay with the formula established by the General Assembly, which would provide relief to every homeowner, whether their taxes went up or not. But Daniels has proposed converting the current rebate checks into a credit to deliver the relief sooner and with less administrative expense.

Earlier, the governor took these additional actions:

• Extended by two months the deadline for counties to decide to use other available revenue tools to help them reduce local property taxes. Legislation enacted this year gives counties the authority to adopt local option income taxes. The August 1 deadline has been moved to October 1.
• Directed the Department of Local Government Finance (DLGF) to approve any county's application to permit homeowners to pay their property taxes in installments and to extend bill due dates.
• Directed the Indiana Bond Bank to facilitate short-term financing by local governments that need cash while awaiting installments.

July 15, 2007
Lenoir, NC A perfect example of tax incentive excess occurred here recently when the Town of Lenoir offered Google a tax incentive package totaling over $211 million, in exchange for the creation of 210 jobs.

July 6, 2007
Chicago, IL Chicago Mayor Daley announced that $122 million in proceeds from the leasing of 4 downtown Chicago Park District parking garages, will be used for 100 separate neighborhood park improvement projects.

June 22, 2007
Springfield, IL Legislative leaders and the governor have come to an agreement as to a stopgap budget which will keep state government running during the month of July. Negotiations as to a resolution of the remaining issues will resume next week.

June 18, 2007
Chicago, IL Despite storm clouds on the horizon, over 200 real estate owners and developers paid $1000.00 each, to play golf with Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan, at the beautiful Harborside International golf course.

June 18, 2007
Chicago, IL The Chicago Board of Education has decided to postpone the passage of their 2007-08 budget. The school board is hoping that the General Assembly changes the school funding formula.

May 30, 2007
Springfield, IL With issues such as electricity rates, healthcare and the budget remaining to be resolved, Speaker Madigan has extended the spring session of the house for an additional 30 days. Members of the Republican party will now have significant input into all legislation.

May 18, 2007
Chicago, IL In a taping of the program City Desk, which will be aired by NBC on Sunday morning, Cook County Assessor Houlihan called upon all homeowners to contact House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and urge support for an extension of the 7% property tax cap.

May 17, 2007
Chicago, IL A group of over 100 religious leaders has called upon House Speaker Michael J. Madigan at his Chicago office, in an attempt to rally support for an extension of the 7% property tax cap.

May 16, 2007
Springfield, IL Chicago Mayor Daley is supporting an extension of the 7% property tax cap. He also suggested that an increase in the state income tax may be the most appropriate means to raise additional funds for education.

May 10, 2007
Springfield, IL The Illinois House of Representatives has unanimously rejected Governor Blagojevich's proposal for the Gross Receipts Tax. The discussion will now switch to proposals for an increase in the state sales tax and income tax.

May 8, 2007
Fairfax, VA George Mason University has released the results of a study where they found that police departments in municipalities that recently rejected property tax increases, are more likely to write speeding tickets. Go figure.

May 2, 2007
Chicago, IL Mr. Ronald A. Messina, Executive Director of the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, addressed the IPT / Chicago Chapter. His presentation was informative and concerned ideas about where he wants PTAB to go during the next 24 months.

In essence, PTAB is going to use email as a means of communication with attorney's. They are also going to further develop their web site and are now reviewing their rules and procedures.

April 16, 2007
Washington D.C. The United States Olympic Committee has selected the City of Chicago as its nominee to host the 2016 Summer Olympics. Chicago must now compete against other international cities. A final decision is expected in 2008. The hosting of Olympic games is viewed by many experts as the ultimate in economic development.

April 5, 2007
Chicago, IL The Cook County Assessor has begun selling advertising space on their web site. See their announcement: "The Assessor’s Office has recently received authorization from the Cook County Board of Commissioners to allow businesses to advertise on the Assessor’s Office Website. The Assessor’s Office currently receives an average of 33 million hits per month on our website."

April 3, 2007
Chicago, IL The Cook County Board has approved a plan authorizing the Cook County Assessor to license access to data on the Assessor's web site.

March 30, 2007
Chicago, IL Governor Blagojevich and Senate President Emil Jones have announced that they are in favor of increasing the Gross Receipts Tax to seven billion dollars from six billion dollars and that the extra billion dollars will be used for property tax "relief". Blagojevich is beginning a statewide bus tour to promote the Gross Receipts Tax. Meanwhile, Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan, still has not commented on the merits of any of the tax proposals.

March 28, 2007
Springfield, IL State Senate President, Emil Jones has announced his support for the Gross Receipts Tax and has stated that he will not support any legislation which calls for an increase in the state income tax or sales tax.

March 23, 2007
Chicago, IL State Comptroller Daniel W. Hynes is calling for prompt Medicaid payments in the event the Governor's Gross Receipts Tax is enacted. Meanwhile, Lt. Governor Patrick Quinn and Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias have indicated that they are not in favor of the Gross Receipts Tax.
All three constitutional officers are in favor of the tax swap proposal.

March 9, 2007
Chicago, IL In an effort to help with the Cook County fiscal shortfall, Assessor James M. Houlihan is proposing that his office revise their award winning website, by adding more features and then licensing use of the site to medium and heavy users. A spokesperson for the Assessor's office stated that the estimated cost of the license would be approximately $30,000,00 per year and that none of the cost would be incurred by taxpayers.

March 8, 2007
Springfield, IL Governor Blagojevich, in an address with a socialistic tint, has officially proposed a tax increase on business, to be known as the Gross Receipts Tax and the sale of the Illinois State Lottery in order to provide funding for education and healthcare. The Chicago Sun Times described the tax proposal as the largest tax increase in the history of Illinois and was critical of the proposal because it fails to mandate accountability as to how the additional funds will be spent.

March 6, 2007
Chicago, IL The Cook County Assessor has announced that they are going to be limiting use of the Unique Properties Program. Further details are unknown.

March 6, 2007
Springfield, IL According to press reports, Governor Blagojevich is going to propose a Gross Receipts Tax to be levied upon all businesses. The revenue will be used to fund a program for the medically uninsured.

February 9, 2007
Chicago, IL State Senator John J. Cullerton has introduced a bill, SB 567, which abolishes the office of Cook County Assessor. It is unknown what will replace the office.

February 9, 2007
Chicago, IL The Cook County Board, in an effort to plug a $500,000,000.00 budget shortfall, has considered a tax on the sale of bullets. It is unknown how many bullets are sold in Cook County each year. The proposal, which was not passed, would have levied a tax at the rate of $.50 per bullet.

February 8, 2007
New York, NY The Blackstone Group's acquisition of EOP has raised the ceiling on the value of trophy office buildings, nationwide. Expect foreign pension funds to start paying even more.

February 1, 2007
Chicago, IL Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Joseph Berrios has been unanimously elected Chairman of the Democratic Party of Cook County. We congratulate Mr. Berrios.

January 23, 2007
Chicago, IL The 1st installment of the 2006 Cook County tax bills are being mailed. They are due on March 1, 2007 and can be paid at the Cook County building or any Chase Bank branch.

January 15, 2007
Chicago, IL The Chicago Tribune is reporting that up to 5% of the patients treated at Cook County health facilities are non-residents of Cook County and that since October 2005, Cook County stopped seeking reimbursement for medical services. According to the article, this failure to seek reimbursement has contributed greatly to the Cook County budget deficit.

January 10, 2007
Springfield, IL The 95th General Assembly has convened. In setting out their legislative agendas, Senate President Emil Jones announced that tax swap legislation will be his priority. Speaker of the House Michael J. Madigan announced that he is prepared to do whatever is necessary to balance the state budget.

January 9, 2007
Springfield, IL During the waning hours of its existence, the 94th General Assembly failed to pass legislation which extends the 7% Tax Cap on certain residential properties.

January 5, 2007
Chicago, IL Chicago's Mayor Daley is calling for more funding for state schools. He is suggesting that the General Assembly consider several alternatives such as an income tax-property tax swap or the leasing of state assets.

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