Joseph Berrios: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: ChicagoWebsite: berriosforassessor.comTwitter: Candidate did not respond.Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/democratjoeberrios/Office sought: Cook County Assessor Age: 65Family: I am the proud father of three children and three grandchildren.Occupation: Cook County AssessorEducation: BA in Accounting, University of IllinoisCivic involvement: Chairman, Cook County Democratic Party 2007-PresentElected offices held: State Representative, 1982-1988 Cook County Board of Review, 1988-2010Questions Answers Are properties assessed accurately in Cook County? Does the system benefit some property owners over others? If you believe the system has errors, how would you improve it or change it?Assessor Berrios grew up in Cabrini Green and is the first minoirity ever to serve as Cook County Assessor, was the first Hispainic-American elected to Countywide office and was the first Hispanic American to serve in the Illinois General Assembly. He simply would never allow the office to unfiarly asses properties and cause minoirites to pay more taxes than they should. The assessor determines a property's market value based on sales and market conditions. Assessor Berrios took a proactive step to addressing issues at the Assessor's office long before the media turned its attention to it. Systematic problems have existed in the assessment system going back to 40 years. The Assessor's office in conjunction with President Preckwinkle's office have been working with Tyler Technologies since 2016 to identify improvements in the property assessment system at every level. Assessor Berrios and President Preckwinkle also brought in the Civic Consulting Allicance (CCA) to evulate the assesment process. The Cook County Assessor's Office has provided CCA all the necessary information and documents in order to perform an analysis of all the departments involved in the assessment process, which also includes the board of review. Some of the immediate steps that CCA has taken include the hiring a nationally recognized independent expert to evaluate the assessment process. Assessor Berrios is looking forward to completion of the study and dedicated to implementing any identified improvements to the process.Is there favoritism in the way the assessor's office does business today. If so, please explain how you would change that. If not, please explain how the office operates objectively.If a homeowner disagrees with their property tax assesement they have right to appeal their taxes. This gives the taxpayer a voice. A common misconception is that you need an attorney to appeal your property taxes. In fact, the majority of appeals filed with the Assessor's Office do not involve an attorney. Actually, the rate of sucessful appeals is substanially better for those who do not use an attorney.What skills, experiences and abilities do you possess that make you the best qualified candidate to run an assessor's office.Assessor Berrios was elected Cook County Assessor in 2010 and entered office that December after 22 years on the Cook County Board of Review, which handles property tax appeals. His experience on the Board helped him to immediately begin an extensive evaluation of the Cook County Assessor's Office (CCAO) and accomplish significant reform. He graduated from Lane Tech High School and earned a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from the University of Illinois.Do you think there are too many, not enough or just enough incentives that lower property taxes for commercial property owners in Cook County? Please explain your answer.The Cook County Assessors office does not have a stance on incentives to lower property taxes for commerical property owners. The Cook County Assessor only implements such incentives. Local municipalities, and local taxing bodies are directly responsiblie for establishment of any tax incentives.What should the assessor's office be doing to make information, data and decisions about assessments more transparent?Under Assessor Berrios the Cook County Assessor's website has been dramatically improved, making information more accessible to all taxpayers. We've also made the assement process easier for all taxpayers by providing a record amount of tax appeal workshops and seminars to inform taxpayers of their rights.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?During Assessor Berrios' tenure, he has transformed the Assessor's Office by saving Cook County taxpayers tens of millions of dollars every year by completing the assessment cycle on time even with major reductions in staff -- something that did not happen in the last 34 years under previous assessors. On-time tax bills ensure that school districts, municipalities and other taxing bodies receive revenue on schedule and do not have to borrow money to meet budgetary needs. By eliminating that borrowing, $5 million to $6 million of countywide would-be monthly interest is saved which is passed on to taxpayers.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.President Barack ObamaWhat is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?Always respect your elders and never be ashamed of where you came from.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?Candidate did not respond.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?Mathematics, I loved math which later helped when I became a CPA.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Spend time with those you love.