Posted: 31 Mar 2010 08:30 AM PDT

Houlihan said Berrios is slowing the work of the review board to make sure Cook County voters aren't angered before the election by higher tax bills. A cap on property-tax assessments will end in the city this year and is being phased out in the suburbs. Those caps have have limited property tax increases for many homeowners.

Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said Houlihan is trying to deflect attention from his own failure to complete assessments.

"Speaker Madigan has nothing to do with the assessment process," Brown said. "Assessor Houlihan has apparently fumbled the ball again. If he wants somebody to blame for any delay, he should look in the mirror."

At a news conference to respond to Houlihan's allegations, Berrios blamed the assessor for delays in the process of determining the tax bills. He said Houlihan has wrongly assessed a large number of properties, leading to a potentially heavy volume of appeal cases.

Berrios said he has not discussed with Madigan or anyone else the possibility of delaying the tax bills until after the election. He said he would love to get the bills out before the election.

"(Houlihan) is trying to play politics with all the different taxing bodies and the effect that this will have on them," said Berrios, joined by Board of Review members Larry Rogers Jr. and Brendan Houlihan, who is not related to the assessor. "This is not -- when you're looking at the tax system, this is not something you play politics with. If you get it right the first time, then guess what, the Board of Review would not be hearing so many cases."

Under current law, all property tax appeals must be completed before tax rates can be set and bills mailed out to property owners.

Rogers said the board is still waiting for a Houlihan's office to complete a significant amount of work so appeal hearings can be set. There's "absolutely no truth" to Houlihan's accusation, Rogers said.

The allegation comes amid a politically charged atmosphere.

Madigan opposes extending the so-called tax cap, something Houlihan has been asking the General Assembly to do for well more than a year.

Berrios won a three-way primary by a much narrower margin than might have been expected and County Board Commissioner Forrest Claypool, D-Chicago, is being put forward by some as a potential independent challenger. Houlihan and Claypool have been allies on many issues in the past.

Houlihan urged voters to think long and hard before voting for Berrios for Cook County Assessor. "Certainly, anybody who is involved with chicanery about the tax bills, the voters should give some serious thought to whether they should vote for him," Houlihan said.

He praised Claypool, but stopped short of directly endorsing Claypool's rumored run for assessor.

"If (Claypool) does step in (to the race), it would be an important, I think, step for voters, but I think that's up to him," Houlihan said. "You know, he's a very thoughtful (Cook County) commissioner, and has been a very good public servant."

If Claypool wanted to run for assessor, he should have participated in the primary, Berrios said.

"If you look at the primary, (Houlihan) did not endorse me. I'm sure the assessor never wanted me to follow him down to the Assessor's Office," Berrios said. "But guess what? I did win the primary, as a Democrat."

"Claypool is supposed to be a Democrat. He sits on the board as a Democrat," Berrios added. "But if he wants to run, he had the opportunity to run. Let him go out and get the signatures, as I did. If he wanted to run for the Assessor's Office, he should have, number one, run in the Democratic primary, if he is a Democrat. He should have come out. It would have been a four-way race. Who knows what would have happened."

Claypool was not immediately available for comment.

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Property tax hike approved (The Gainesville Sun)

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 03:03 AM PDT

On Tuesday, commissioners also voted to move ahead with the proposed fire assessment, scheduling public hearings on the new fee for May 11 and June 22.

The first - but not last - vote on a tax rate for the 2010-11 fiscal year came after lengthy debate and four failed motions. Eventually, a 3-2 vote gave staff marching orders to prepare the proposed budgets for most county departments - those that get money from the general fund - based on a property tax rate of 8.3423 mills. That is the maximum rate state law would allow for simple majority approval - or three of the five county commissioners.

That tax rate is an approximately 3.5 percent increase over the current property tax rate of 8.0495 mills. One mill equals a dollar of tax for every $1,000 of taxable property value.

The confusing scenario of an increased tax rate raising less money has its root in the Florida Legislature's 2007 special session on property tax reductions, which restricted local governments' authority to raise tax rates and revenues without a super majority or unanimous vote.

Revenue from property tax rates approved in a "simple majority" vote is limited to money generated by new construction and the percentage change in statewide per-capita personal income - which is income divided by population. Since per-capita income is now declining, tax revenue approved by a simple majority must follow suit.

During Tuesday's debate, county commissioners Rodney Long and Paula DeLaney voted, at least for now, to forge ahead with a higher tax rate - an approximately 9.1-mill levy that would eventually require the support of four of the five commissioners to be enacted when the official tax vote arrives in July.

It is projected that the 9.1-mill rate will raise more than $105 million in revenue compared with the approximately $96.3 million in property tax revenue for the general fund this year.

Long said that he expected to be "criticized," "ridiculed" and subject to sensationalized headlines for voting for a higher tax rate no matter what, so he might as well support a rate that actually brings in more money. DeLaney said, at this early point in the budget process, she wanted more flexibility to fund services.

"That's not to say we wouldn't eventually set the rate at the simple majority (rate)," she said.

Commissioners Lee Pinkoson and Cynthia Chestnut, both up for re-election this year, voted to maintain the current property tax rate - which is projected to bring in approximately $4 million less in revenues than this year.

Commissioner Mike Byerly consistently supported the simple majority rate, although he failed to get support from other commissioners until his third motion. Long and DeLaney then joined him. Byerly said moving ahead with that property tax rate lets staff prepare for inevitable cuts over the next few months, instead of having the County Commission make the reductions during summer budget hearings.

The 8.3423 mill tax rate is expected to bring in $95.56 million in property tax revenue for the general fund - approximately $700,000 less than this year. Finance Director Todd Hutchison said that, based on projections from the Property Appraiser's Office, revenue from properties currently on the tax rolls would drop by approximately $2 million, but new construction will generate $1.3 million.

In a 4-1 vote, the County Commission scheduled public hearings for May 11 and June 22 for a fire assessment that, at this point, would exempt most properties owned by churches and nonprofit organizations. The fire assessment, as approved Tuesday, would reduce but not eliminate the property tax rate that now funds the fire department.

Byerly was the lone vote in opposition - describing a fire assessment as a "regressive" tax that places a greater burden on lower-income homeowners.

Byerly's argument is based on projections he requested from the county's assessment consultants, which showed owners of homes with lower property values would pay more through an assessment than they currently do through the Municipal Services Taxing Unit property tax rate that funds fire services.

Owners of more expensive homes, on the other hand, are projected to pay less than they do currently.

Contact Christopher Curry at 374-5088 or chris.curry@gvillesun.com.

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Deadline Wed. for Chicago property tax rebate (ABC 7 Chicago)

Posted: 31 Mar 2010 06:21 AM PDT