Tammy Wendt: Candidate profile

Bio

Party: Democrat

City: Palos Heights

Office sought:

Age: 49

Family: Divorced, 1 son, plus dog and cat

Occupation: Attorney

Education: JD, John Marshall Law School

Civic involvement: President of the Southwest Bar Association (SWBA), member of ISBA, WBAI, IRELA, WCDBA, WSBA, SSBA, speaker for Women Everywhere Conferences, guest speaker at Moraine Valley College small business classes

Elected offices held:

Incumbent? If yes, when were first elected: No

Website: supporttammy.com

Twitter: @TammyWendtBOR

Facebook: Friends of Tammy Wendt

Questions and Answers

1. What special knowledge or experience do you have that particularly qualifies you to be on the Board of Review? If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you've led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the board and what would your priority be?

If elected, I will bring to the Board of Review over 20 years experience as a practicing attorney in the area of real estate and property tax appeals. I owned a property tax appeal business and obtained significant property tax reductions for my clients. I have been in the real estate field for 27 years. I am also a licensed real estate broker. I have also worked in the public sector as a Cook County Assistant State's Attorney. I would bring to the Board my 27 years of real estate and tax experience, my 49 years of life experience, and I am proud to say that I was never hired as a patronage employee for "putting in my time" in politics. I am the qualified candidate for this position because of my experience and hard work, not because I know the right people. I am not a part of the machine and I stand for integrity and honesty. I will loyally serve the voters of this County in fixing our broken property tax system.

2. How does the Board of Review effectively balance the financial needs of the county with the requests from taxpayers to lower assessments?

To effectively balance the financial needs of the county with the appeals filed to lower assessments there must first be an independent arbiter elected to the Board of Review. My opponent Rashid is not an independent arbiter as his ties to Fritz Kaegi are too close. Rashid campaigned for Kaegi then received a patronage job as his chief policy officer when Kaegi was elected. Rashid's website talks about bringing "fairness to the broken tax system" and that he's "tired of politicians." This is interesting because I sat next to him in our Chicago Federation of Labor endorsement interview 2 weeks ago and when I asked him what has Kaegi actually done to improve the tax problem, he stated that Kaegi's system is working and that it will just take time. Rashid vehemently defended Kaegi when questioned by the CFL members who wanted to know why Kaegi has driven out investors and developers, who have no intent on coming back because of the excessive tax increases on commercial property. Kaegi has improperly increased taxes on commercial properties. No one should pay more than their fair share of property taxes. The answer to this question is fairness. You will not get that with my opponent.

3. What changes would you propose in the operation of the Board of Review?

Number 1 is bringing a new voice to Cook County politics - my voice - I represent the everyday homeowner in a middle class south suburban home. I am a single mother and I understand what it means to live paycheck to paycheck and raise a family while constantly fighting the system that keeps increasing property taxes. That' why I decided to run for this office-I'm not standing by anymore and hoping someone else will fix it-and I'm not running to another county or state. The ever increasing property taxes are causing so many Chicagoans to leave. I want to stop the exodus. My first order of business is to stop the pendulum from swinging in the direction of overtaxing commercial properties. It has been said that Berrios under valued commercial property and Kaegi was supposed to be the knight in shining amour who would fix all of the tax problems in this County, but what he did was the opposite. He is excessively overvaluing commercial properties which has driven out builders, investors and developers, which in turn means less work for our unions, leading to less income, leading to foreclosures and a mass exodus.

4. How do you view the responsibilities of the board and the level of assessments as they apply to commercial and to residential taxpayers? What differences do you see between the two types of taxpayer and how is, or should be, the board of review set up to deal with them appropriately?

Both residential and commercial properties are to be assessed at the fair market value and neither should pay more than their fair share of taxes. The Board of Review was created to be the checks and balance on the Assessor. The two offices must remain independent of one another for this very reason. Thus, when the assessor overvalues a property, the taxpayer (both commercial and residential) can appeal to the Board of Review for relief. It is the responsibility of the Board to be an independent arbiter and evaluate whether the property is properly assessed. Currently residential taxpayers can file appeals on their own, whereas commercial taxpayers must hire an attorney.

5. Describe your position on transparency and customer service at the board of review. How easy and convenient is it for average citizens to appeal their taxes? What, if anything, should be done to improve procedures?

My vision for this office is to bring more awareness and transparency to the taxpayers about the Board of Review. Most people do not know what the Board of Review does despite its importance. When Berrios ran against Kaegi, voters were so upset about their tax bills that they voted Berrios out. But Kaegi clearly wasn't the answer either as things have gone from bad to worse with him. Voters need to be made aware that there are three commissioners in charge of the Board of Review and those three commissioners can grant all or none of the appeals that come before them. Thus, it is extremely important that voters know who they are electing. It is also extremely important that voters know my opponent Rashid will be a rubber stamp for Fritz Kaegi and it will be politics as usual. Taxes will go from worse to rock bottom and I fear for what's ahead for this county should the status quo remain.