Berrios defends property tax assessment; Preckwinkle seeks review

Minutes after Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios sought to defend his office’s methods of determining property value to the County Board Finance Committee Tuesday, Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle announced a review of property tax assessment methodology.

Berrios and several aides sought to portray reporting by the Chicago Tribune as giving an “inaccurate impression” of the assessor’s office methodology, while academics and industry experts derided the property tax assessment system as secretive and unfairly burdensome to poor minority communities.

“There is a discrepancy,” Berrios said while being questioned by Commissioner Richard Boykin (1st), whose district includes several primarily black, low-income neighborhoods on the West Side. “We’re trying to get it perfect. But until we get it perfect, we’re always going to have the appeal process for people to come in and appeal whatever assessment we give them.”

After more than three hours of testimony — in which Berrios acknowledged that different assessment models are used in different areas — Preckwinkle’s office announced a third-party review of the property tax system.

“Administration of property taxes should be fair and equitable,” Preckwinkle said in an emailed statement. “Questions about whether the system lacks fairness can serve to undermine faith in the system. As such, it is necessary to have an unbiased third party undertake a full review on how the property tax system works, including evaluating the functions performed by separately elected officials, such as the Cook County Assessor’s Office and the Board of Review.”

Though the Tribune’s series was a frequent target for Berrios and his aides, several commissioners praised the reporting, with Boykin crediting the newspaper “for all the light they’ve shed on this issue.”

Chris Berry, the director of the Center for Municipal Finance at the University of Chicago, said the current assessment system, in which property in poor minority communities is taxed at a higher rate than in affluent white communities, is a result of “institutional racism” — a term that was mentioned no less than four times during the meeting.

“I am not saying that Joe Berrios or anyone on his staff is a racist,” Berry said. “I am saying — and the data clearly support — that the assessment system we have produces racially discriminatory assessments and taxes.”

Boykin also asked Berrios if he believed “it is right” for the assessor and commissioners on the Board of Review to accept campaign donations from property tax appeal attorneys.

Berrios pointed out that he accepts contributions “according to the law.” Addressing the possibility of campaign contribution reform, he said, “I can live with that, as long as we make it equal across the board.”