Mount Prospect trustee candidate owes $32,000 in back property taxes

Mount Prospect village board candidate Jack Brogan owes more than $32,000 in overdue property taxes for four residential parcels he plans to develop along Golf Road.

Brogan, who is running as a write-in candidate, acknowledged he is late with the tax payments, but said he has been approved for a construction loan and will pay the taxes. He said he plans to construct three homes on the property and his banker advised him to pay the taxes when he is ready to build.

A retired Mount Prospect police sergeant and owner of Brogan Builders, Brogan is late with taxes due last year and this year, according to Cook County records.

Brogan explained he ran into difficulties stemming from restrictions the village placed on the property in 2022. Those restrictions halted plans for building new homes at 620 E. Golf Road, he said.

The village board’s approval of the property’s subdivision in September of that year, on the recommendation of the planning and zoning commission, placed an anti-monotony condition preventing the homes’ exteriors from looking identical.

“They put a covenant on that land that's never been done before,” said Brogan, adding that he has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into the property.

“They told us about this two hours before the planning and zoning meeting,” he said. “So I had a gun to my head, and I had to agree to it, because the property was for sale for five years. Nobody would buy it.”

Brogan’s attorneys at the time, current mayoral candidate Trisha Chokshi and then-Trustee Augie Filippone, argued the conditions amounted to a restrictive covenant and would not only encumber the property in the future, but also set a precedent.

At the time, the planning and zoning commission’s chairman, Joseph Donnelly, said, “We have never been able to tell them they can't build what's next door.”

As a home-rule community, the village can put conditions on properties when approving zoning changes, village officials countered. They also raised concerns about the appearance of one of Brogan’s previous projects.

Village Manager Michael Cassady said it was common for the village to place conditions of approval on subdivisions, on issues ranging from traffic to stormwater. However, he could not name anti-monotony restrictions on subdivisions in the village other than 620 E. Golf Road.

Today the property remains as it was in 2022, empty aside from one home and a garage.

Brogan said multiple contracts have fallen through because of the restrictions and he claims the village is retaliating against him because of concerns he’s raised about the police department.

Cassady would not comment about Brogan’s claims, but insists the board acted properly.