Cook Co. board member: Board of Review probe completed
An internal probe into possible wrongdoing at the Board of Review is complete, according to a commissioner trying to distance himself from the case and from fellow Commissioner Joseph Berrios.
Suburban Commissioner Brendan Houlihan said the internal probe into allegations of unwarranted property-tax reductions is complete.
A separate state's attorney's probe apparently is ongoing.
"We did our own investigation and completely cooperated with the state's attorney - gave them all the information on it," said Houlihan, a Palos Heights Democrat.
"I'd like to see some confirmation that that's true," said Wheeling's Dan Patlak, Houlihan's Republican opponent in the 1st District. "Because I've noticed that Commissioner Houlihan tends to take credit for some of the things the Board of Review does. He takes individual credit when actually group credit is due."
The state's attorney's office has a policy to not comment on ongoing investigations, and a spokesman said, "We're at a point where we still can't comment on it." Berrios, however, said he had not heard any details about the investigation or any impending indictments.
According to Houlihan and his Assistant Commissioner John Sullivan, they passed on to the state's attorney information on six questionable assessment reductions from two outreach programs held in Houlihan's suburban district, including one in Schaumburg. Both outreach programs were organized without Houlihan's knowledge, they said.
The men said they were advised by prosecutors not to talk about details of the case until the investigation was done.
Houlihan's district comprises all of suburban Cook County. Fellow commissioners Berrios and Larry Rogers Jr. divide Chicago with their districts.
All are Democrats, and Berrios is chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party and is now the party nominee for Cook County assessor. Because of staggered terms, however, Houlihan is the only one of the three up for re-election to the Board of Review.
Berrios attributed his differences with Houlihan to that, saying, "He's under a lot of stress with his own election. He's got a tough election out there and a tough opponent, and I'm sure he's stressed out."
Questions arose last year about allegations that Democratic state Rep. Paul Froehlich of Schaumburg and a political associate who used to work for Berrios helped owners of several Schaumburg properties receive cuts in their tax assessments from the Board of Review.
Both have denied any wrongdoing. Houlihan and Sullivan said they also provided investigators with information on a similar outreach in Bremen Township organized by Berrios and his staff.
The four controversial Schaumburg Township reductions were rolled back, and Houlihan claimed he and Rogers kept the Bremen assessment reductions from being completed.
Berrios said he did not even attend the Schaumburg outreach meeting, and that Houlihan's staff "signed off on all those appeals."
Yet, Houlihan went to lengths to separate himself from the other Board of Review commissioners. Houlihan said he has not endorsed Berrios or any other assessor candidate and that Berrios hasn't formally endorsed him, although his support would figure to be tacit as chairman of the county Democrats.