Blame game escalates as Cook County tax bills delayed
With the passing of Sept. 1, Cook County failed to make its formal deadline for mailing out second-installment tax bills for the 33rd straight year. The question is, when will the bills go out?
The issue, which has an immediate fiscal impact on schools and municipalities, has become a political football - especially in the hotly contested assessor's race, where each camp accuses the other of foot-dragging to delay bills until after the Nov. 2 election.
That kind of delay could cost schools and other taxing bodies money. Many school districts have Dec. 1 deadlines for making payments on debt, and if they haven't received their share of tax collections by then and don't have reserves to cover the gap, they have to borrow, said Deb Parenti, associate superintendent for finance and operations for Northwest Suburban High School District 214.
"It costs money to borrow money, and that's less money for programs," she said.
The Cook County treasurer, assessor and Board of Review all say it's still possible bills could go out before Election Day, with payments due Dec. 1, the same as last year.
Yet, the Board of Review, which handles property assessment appeals, has completed only 23 of 38 townships, and even after it finishes snags could develop as the Illinois Department of Revenue sets the multiplier to level Cook County assessments with the rest of the state and as the county clerk sets the tax rates for the various taxing government bodies before the treasurer actually mails the bills.
Getting bills out by Election Day "is still possible, and that would be great. We think they should come out before the election," said Eric Herman, spokesman for Assessor James Houlihan, who is retiring and backing independent candidate Forrest Claypool, a Cook County commissioner, to replace him.
Voters, Herman said, deserve to know before the election how much government is taxing them - even though the vast majority of the property taxes collected do not even go to the county.
Houlihan accused Claypool's Democratic opponent for assessor, Board of Review Commissioner Joseph Berrios, of delaying tax bills to benefit his election chances and those of incumbent Cook County Democrats.
Earlier, Berrios said it was Houlihan who was responsible for the delay. Houlihan's office recommended, and the Cook County Board approved, a new system for assessing property in Cook County. It sets residential assessments at 10 percent of market value and commercial property at 25 percent. That resulted in a record 436,000 appeals to the Board of Review.
Scott Guetzow, the Board of Review's chief deputy commissioner, said they aim to finish up their work Sept. 15.
Last year, the Board of Review finished up July 29, and tax bills still went out in late October with a Dec. 1 due date.
County Treasurer Maria Pappas wouldn't place blame. "I ain't getting in that catfight," she said, adding her office lent staff to the assessor and to the Board of Review, and that they processed 140,000 appeals.
Claypool wasn't as demure, accusing Berrios, who also is chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, of "holding back" bills and saying the Board of Review favored business properties in assessment appeals, shifting more tax load onto residential owners.
Other assessor candidates, Republican Sharon Strobeck-Eckersall and Robert Grota of the Green Party, did not reply to requests for comment, and Berrios referred questions to Guetzow.
Late tax bills don't bring much outcry from taxpayers. "Nobody's ever called my office to complain because they haven't gotten a bill," Pappas said. "They love it when they're late."
Yet Schaumburg Township Assessor John Lawson pointed out that taxpayers have a vested interest in making sure the entire process doesn't extend into the next year with a due date in 2011. "They would not be able to claim their second installment of their property-tax bill when filing the 2010 income taxes," he said.
"That certainly won't happen," Guetzow promised, nevertheless adding that he can't speak for the state Department of Revenue or Cook County Clerk David Orr, the next stops before bills go out. "I can't say how long their process will take."
"The county has been late since the Great Depression," said Hoffman Estates Mayor Bill McLeod, who has been warning about the increasingly late tax bills for months. "They need to get back on a regular schedule, not a regularly late schedule."