Endorsement: Kaegi for Cook County assessor

Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi took office in 2018 pledging to rid the office of corruption and create a process that more equitably shares the tax burden between homeowners and businesses.

Eight years later, it’s been a mixed bag for the Chicago Democrat. Kaegi deserves credit for enacting a new code of ethics for the office and avoiding the kind of scandals that plagued his predecessor. However, the assessment and property tax system remains a confusing mess wherein homeowners in some of the county’s poorest areas are seeing huge hikes that dwarf those of tonier neighborhoods and commercial properties.

It’s in that environment that Kaegi is facing a stiff Democratic primary challenge from Lyons Township Assessor and volunteer firefighter Pat Hynes of Western Springs, who has the backing of party leadership.

At stake is who will lead an office that assigns values to more than 1.8 million properties in Cook. Those determinations help decide how much the parcels’ owners pay in property taxes every year.

If elected, Hynes says he would strive to reduce the “insane volatility” of the assessment process under Kaegi. He argues it’s driving business interests out of Cook County and leaving homeowners facing massive year-over-year tax increases.

Yet Kaegi has made strides in creating a more balanced system — a University of Chicago study found his office has made “substantial progress” in improving the fairness and “dramatically reduced” previous regressivity. But that’s little comfort for the homeowners who saw their assessments surge as much as 120% last year.

Who’s to blame? Kaegi points to the county’s Board of Review, saying its decisions to lower assessments on businesses and commercial spaces — despite evidence his assessments are correct — have shifted the tax burden onto homeowners. Hynes responds that if Kaegi’s office delivered more-accurate assessments, the Board of Review would grant fewer appeals.

We find Hynes a strong candidate, with the knowledge and experience to capably take on the job. But we endorse Kaegi, who took on a Herculean task when he took office in 2018. While it’s clear he hasn’t succeeded on all fronts, he’s made enough progress and a good-faith effort to fix a flawed system — while also steering clear of ethical problems — to earn another term.