Fritz Kaegi: Candidate Profile

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Note: Answers provided have not been edited for grammar, misspellings or typos. In some instances, candidate claims that could not be immediately verified have been omitted. Jump to:BioQA Bio City: ChicagoWebsite: www.fritzforassessor.comTwitter: @fritz4assessorFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/fritzkaegiforcookcountyassessor/Office sought: Cook County Assessor Age: Candidate did not respond.Family: Wife Rebecca and three children, William, Rose and Anna.Occupation: Full-time candidate for Cook County AssessorEducation: Stanford University Graduate School of Business Master of Business Administration (MBA) Haverford College Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) Political Science Economics Magna cum laudeCivic involvement: First United Methodist Church of Oak Park, Member, since 2010 Social Venture Partners Chicago, Investment Committee member, 2015-2017 Social Venture Partners Chicago, Partner, since 2014 Oak Park Youth Baseball and Softball, assistant coach, since 2014 CFA Society of Chicago, member and charterholder, since 2013 Leadership Greater Chicago, Finance Committee, 2015-17, and Program Committee, 2013-15 Leadership Greater Chicago Fellow, 2012-2013 First United Methodist Church of Evanston, member, 2009-2010 Broadway United Methodist Church, member, 2006-2009 Local admissions interviewer, Haverford College, 2003-current Local admissions interviewer, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2003-current Chicago Council on Global Affairs Chicago Sister CIties, Moscow Committee, 2002-2014Elected offices held: I have not previously officially sought or held any elected or appointed governmental positions.Questions Answers Are properties assessed accurately in Cook County? Does the system benefit some property owners over others? If you believe the system has errors, how would you improve it or change it?This year, many have learned about the shocking systemic bias and inequities created by the current assessor's work. The ProPublica/Tribune research published this year was only the culmination of many years of research showing that wide swaths of the county--largely to the south and west of Chicago and southern suburbs, but in many other places as well, especially where immigrants live--were substantially overassessed. A similar series showed dramatic underassessment of downtown commercial properties, and gross neglect of outlying commercial properties as valuations didn't change by a dollar for close to a decade. This reporting also detailed the prevalence of an arbitrary and opaque system of hand checks where analysts adjust numbers and variables on individual property assessments. As assessor, I will implement the price weighted regression model that has been shown to be much more accurate and less regressive. The experts in assessment and designers of this model share that the model can be made even more accurate by taking further account of short sales and prevalence of underwater mortgages I intend to make this a priority. I will use the same modern valuation approaches for commercial properties that institutional investors use. My commitment to open up data and algorithms to third party scrutiny will increase accuracy and uniformity and decrease bias. I will also ensure that all employees who handle assessment undergo a professional assessment education program. That means highly qualified, well-trained staff will be assessing the value of taxpayers' homes.Is there favoritism in the way the assessor's office does business today. If so, please explain how you would change that. If not, please explain how the office operates objectively.In the county today, there is wide recognition that the office is producing assessments and appeals that are biased toward the powerful and wealthy. Residential taxpayers have been carrying an increasing share of property taxes paid in the county. Following extensive reporting in the last year, the County Board, City Council, gubernatorial candidates, and community organizations have added to popular awareness of the unfair practices of the Assessor. Additionally, lawyers and law firms specializing in tax appeals largely finance the Assessor's campaign and deliver assessment reductions that benefit downtown commercial property owners, all the while increasing assessments on those who are less powerful. As a candidate and as Assessor, I will not take donations from lawyers and others in the property tax appeals industry. Second, my commitment to full transparencyÃâ#128;~as is done in other countiesÃâ#128;~will make this office accountable for favoritism and bias for the first time. We expect third-party scrutiny to help root out these practices. Third, the PWR model has been shown be much less regressive, and we'll strive to improve on it.What skills, experiences and abilities do you possess that make you the best qualified candidate to run an assessor's office.I believe that the people of Cook County deserve an Assessor who will value all property in a fair, ethical and transparent manner. This office needs to focus in on accuracy in mass valuation using the best data and models available. I have the ideal background for this. I worked at Columbia Wanger Asset Management for 13 years as investment analyst and portfolio manager. I valued thousands of companies around the world, including major investment in real estate. Previously, I worked at Morningstar and helped build the company's equity valuation models. I hold the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Illinois Assessment Officer (CIAO) designations. Township and county Assessors in this state are required to hold the CIAO designation, but Cook County Assessor is bizarrely exempted from this requirement. Through my work on earning this credential, I gained an appreciation of the professionalism of people employed in this field and of our township Assessors. I want to work with them to better serve the public, since they are a vital part of the system in processing exemptions and improving data accuracy. I've gained an appreciation of housing and poverty issues, as well as of our regional nonprofits, as a partner and investment committee member at Social Venture Partners Chicago. SVP Chicago provides the financial backing and capacity-building resources of its partners to Chicago nonprofits fighting the cycle of poverty. In recent years, SVP Chicago partnered with Metropolitan Tenants Organization, Greater Englewood Community Development Corporation, Project SYNCERE, and One Million Degrees.Do you think there are too many, not enough or just enough incentives that lower property taxes for commercial property owners in Cook County? Please explain your answer.We currently have property tax development incentives to encourage investments in commercial activity in areas where it otherwise would not take place. The incentives typically require investors to make specific investment and hiring commitments, and require authorities to take care that these investments would not take place but for the incentives' lower applicable rate. Local municipalities cooperate with the assessor's office in granting these incentives, and the assessor's office can withdraw the incentives if the investors' undertakings are not being upheld. I think it is appropriate that these incentives exist to encourage beneficial economic investments that would otherwise not take place, especially since the lower incentive rates bring the assessment rate for commercial and industrial investments merely to parity with residential rates. I think it is extremely important that the standards for evaluation, support, and enforcement of these incentives be transparent and uniform. It is equally vital that standards be upheld and enforced, lest the investors taking on their investment and hiring undertakings in good faith be driven out by bad actors that make promises but do not uphold them. The assessor's office has the important power to withdraw these incentives if they have been improperly granted, or if investors' undertakings are not being upheld. I would be ready to take this action in these types of cases. Enforcement is important to protecting investors who act in good faith.What should the assessor's office be doing to make information, data and decisions about assessments more transparent?The Illinois Property Tax Code is clear: valuation standards are a public record. Cook County has shamefully hidden its standards and methods from public scrutiny, rightfully stoking suspicions that its work is shot through with bias, favoritism, and error. The lack of transparency at the Assessor's Office makes it hard to understand WHY it produces such inaccurate, regressive, and biased assessments. The office does not reveal how it calculates assessments, so we do not know what data inputs or algorithms it is applying, and what resulting remedies need to be made on the data and systems side of the office. This is true for both residential and business properties. As Assessor, I plan to implement the better valuation model that is available and already owned. Moreover, I am committed to telling the public how the office derived the assessment for each of the 1.8 million properties in Cook County. This includes making data and algorithms available to outside parties and outside scrutiny. This will better serve the public, especially the large majority of homeowners who do not appeal. Opening up these standards will enforce consistency across all property owners. We have not even been able to obtain a proper, up-to-date organization chart for the Assessor's Office, so it is difficult to understand what many people in the office actually do. Also, we have not received progress updates on the ongoing Tyler and Oracle system implementations. We are committed to meeting the Shakman Monitor's requirements for hiring, job descriptions, and evaluation.What other issues, if any, are important to you as a candidate for this office?The Assessor's office is a vital player in the Chicago area's economy, determining how $14 billion in annual property tax levies are divided amongst us. We rely on these taxes to finance key government services like education and healthcare. The tax one owes is supposed to be distributed based on the market price of one's home making this office essentially all about economic equity. Yet, the current Assessor has created a pay-to-play environment that confers most of its benefits on downtown corporate property owners, all while pushing greater obligations onto outlying neighborhoods. The result is an level of inequity that slowly destroys entire communities. By ridding the office of corruption and nepotism, we will create an assessment system that is equitable and fair. Creating an even playing field will allow communities to better utilize their resources to restore their own economic viability, which can create a ripple effect that has the potential to provide a vital economic boost to surrounding areas. More broadly, we believe that property taxes are a regressive way for government to finance itself. It is inherently inequitable for local property prices to determine spending on education and other public goods. We will articulate our firm belief in the need for progressive income taxation, plus equitable sharing of these revenues with municipalities and school districts, to finance government spending in a less regressive way. The Assessor does not have power to legislate change on these issues, but the office can testify to the need for that change.Please name one current leader who most inspires you.Congressman Danny K. DavisWhat is the biggest lesson you learned at home growing up?To always help those in need whenever possible.If life gave you one do-over, what would you spend it on?I might have travelled a bit more.What was your favorite subject in school and how did it help you in later life?History. I developed a great appreciation of details and how ordinary people made incredible things happen.If you could give your children only one piece of advice, what would it be?Treat others fairly and in the same manner in which you want to be treated.