Froehlich accused of appealing taxes for favors

State Rep. Paul Froehlich of Schaumburg defended himself Thursday against allegations he traded his expertise on property tax appeals for campaign contributions and votes.

Documents from Froehlich's office have sparked suspicion that the Democratic state representative may have done residents' and businesses' property tax appeals in exchange for campaign favors that ranged from putting his sign in their yards to several thousand dollars' worth of campaign materials.

The Cook County Board of Review, the agency that handles property tax appeals, has started an internal investigation to determine if Froehlich had any influence over its internal appeals processes.

The documents were made public by a former Froehlich office worker who was fired last year. She has not returned phone calls.

Among the documents is Froehlich's handwritten note on a copy of the property assessment record of Bimal Dositi, owner of the Comfort Suites Inn in Schaumburg.

Below Froehlich's math showing a $473,355 or 36 percent reduction in Bimal's assessment -- resulting in a single year's tax savings of $94,671 -- is a note dated July 8, 2008.

It reads, "I asked Bimal - and he agreed - to cover my sign bill ($12K) and provide rooms for workers both in '08 and in '10."

Froehlich, however, said none of his offers to help someone file a property tax appeal came with strings. As a former Schaumburg Township assessor (2002-2004), Froehlich said he has been helping constituents appeal their property assessments for years.

In the case of Dositi, Froehlich said Dositi came to him months after Froehlich had helped file his assessment appeal to offer help with the campaign.

"I would never tell anyone I would only help them if they were willing to contribute to my campaign," Froehlich said. Dositi did not return phone calls seeking comment.

Froehlich said after he became state representative in 2003, he started walking the 56th house district and talking with residents, who asked him frequently about their property taxes and whether anything could be done. He said he began offering to help them appeal.

Froehlich believes he has had an approximate 85 percent success rate getting appeals for his constituents.

Froehlich doesn't think that's unusually high. He said he's heard from the current Schaumburg Township assessor's office that its own recent success rate is around 87 percent.

Schaumburg Township Assessor John Lawson - who has announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for Froehlich's house seat next year - thought his office's overall success rate is lower, around 80 percent or just below.

Meanwhile, Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Brendan Houlihan said Thursday the Board of Review is conducting an internal review of its processes in light of the Froehlich allegations.

The Board of Review's three commissioners are the ones who actually approve or deny the appeals brought to them. Houlihan's district is the one that actually includes the Cook County portion of the 56th House District, but all three commissioners vote on each appeal.

The other two commissioners, Joseph Berrios and Larry Rogers Jr., couldn't be reached for comment Thursday.

Though Froehlich has no personal control over what appeals are approved or denied, both Houlihan and Lawson said the pending investigation could at least uncover whether he had any internal influence through anyone else.

Lawson believes any investigation should be handled by either the state's attorney's office or, preferably, the FBI.

Schaumburg resident Renee Walsh, who agreed to put up a campaign sign for Froehlich after a successful 10 to 12 percent reduction of her property assessment, said her agreement to do so was based on genuine gratitude and not a deal worked out in advance.

"He wasn't pushy at all," Walsh said. "He was very nice, very personable."

Froehlich said he's come to believe in the adage that good government and good politics are one and the same. He said he'd be disappointed if the controversy ended gave him second thoughts about how to serve his constituents.

"Constituent service is and should be an essential part of an elected official's job," Froehlich said. "If the day ever comes that we'd be afraid to do it out of fear of what someone might say, that would be a shame."

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