Cook treasurer candidates debate oversight of assessor
Whether the office of Cook County treasurer should audit the county assessor - or be rolled into that of the county clerk - are two more issues on which the Democratic candidates for the position disagree.
Challenger Peter Gariepy believes the treasurer's office under 20-year incumbent Maria Pappas could and should have been a stronger check on Assessor Joseph Berrios, whose office is accused of creating an unfair system of taxation for property owners.
"Frankly, one of the things we should be doing is increasing the amount of review that goes on over all of our tax bills," Gariepy said. "So, with the recent stories about the assessor's office and the reports that have come out ... where was the treasurer in all this?"
While the assessor's office is facing scrutiny, Gariepy accused Pappas of sins of omission.
"Whether or not you're telling the assessor, 'You're not doing your job,' you have an obligation to the taxpayers, to the public, to say I have reviewed the reasonableness of these tax bills," Gariepy said. "And let's make no mistake, it is the treasurer's name on the tax bills. It's not the assessor's."
Pappas says Gariepy is misinformed about the relationship between the two independently elected offices.
"The assessor can't come down and tell me whether I'm going to collect at Chase (Bank)," she said. "I have no authority over him. I have some opinions. ... And I've let the powers that be know."
Pappas said problems in the assessor's office need to be solved collectively, and with the thoroughness with which she fixed the broken treasurer's office 20 years ago.
"I went from $20 million to $90 million in revenues because I was depositing the money on time," she said.
Gariepy also proposes a thorough study on whether the treasurer's office could be consolidated into the clerk's office. It's recommendation might culminate in a voter referendum to decide the matter, he said.
Pappas said the two offices are incompatible for a merger, as the treasurer's office is essentially a bank, while the clerk oversees elections and vital records.
Instead, she said the Cook County Department of Revenue should be restored to its former place within the treasurer's office.
"The department of revenue decides on who's cheating on sales tax, who isn't. Who's paying cigarette stamps, who isn't," Pappas said. "Give it back. Give it to me, I'll handle it and I'll make it perfect."
The primary is March 20. No Republican is currently nominated or slated for the November general election.