The Tribune Editorial Board’s recent endorsement of Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi overlooks the harmful consequences Cook County residents are experiencing under his leadership. As organizations representing business, real estate and organized labor, we are united because the stakes for Cook County are too high to ignore: The county’s assessment system has become unpredictable, error-prone and economically damaging, and taxpayers are paying the price.
This year’s staggering tax increases weren’t just a shock — they were a warning sign that the system is not functioning as it should. The Tribune’s own reporting has documented widespread mismanagement within the assessor’s office, including errors, misclassifications and delayed tax bills that undermine public trust and destabilize the economy.
A joint Tribune-Illinois Answers Project investigation found that Kaegi’s office failed to properly assess at least 620 new or renovated properties in 2023, leaving $444 million in taxable value off the rolls. Mansions assessed as vacant lots. Entire subdivisions never appeared. These are not minor clerical mistakes; they are fundamental breakdowns that shift the tax burden onto everyone else.
And the scale is far larger than that single investigation. The Tribune noted the $444 million figure is a conservative estimate of a much larger underassessment problem. Additionally, a Cook County independent analysis found that the assessor inflated assessments for Chicago’s manufacturing, retail and office buildings. Those assessments were corrected only through appeals to the Board of Review — the same process the assessor criticizes. Instead of addressing these failures, Kaegi’s constant finger-pointing and lack of accountability deepen the problem.
The consequences are visible across the county. With some tax bills doubling, homeowners face impossible choices. Renters experience higher rents. Businesses delay hiring or expansion. And the skyline tells its own story: fewer cranes, fewer projects, fewer jobs. Cook County now competes for the highest commercial property taxes in the nation. Erratic assessments deepen the problem.
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We need leadership with a steady hand, a collaborative spirit, and a clear vision for restoring fairness and accuracy to the assessment system. Taxpayers deserve predictability and transparency, not political narratives or shifting blame. We also need leadership that will modernize the office, leverage technology and build accountable, expert teams. Cook County’s future depends on rebuilding trust in a system that touches every household and business.
We encourage Cook County voters to consider these factors as they evaluate the candidates for assessor.
— Farzin Parang, Building Owners and Managers Association of Chicago; Jack Lavin, Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Patrick J. Kelly, IUOE Local 399; and Genie Kastrup, SEIU Local 1
Thoughts on ‘affordability’
In Gov. JB Pritzker’s State of the State address, he focused on “affordability” in many of his statements about the economy. In these times of high prices on everything from groceries to energy, affordability should be a hot topic. However, Pritzker tends to ignore the affordability of one of the biggest expenses for most Illinois households: our property tax bill.
The average effective property tax rate in the U.S. is less than 1% of home value. The average rate in Illinois is twice that rate and is the highest rate in the country. I live in the south suburbs; I currently pay 4.5%. The poorer suburbs near me are paying more.
Pritzker and other Democrats can talk all they want about affordability and fairness, but until they fix the property tax situation in Illinois, those comments will fall on deaf ears.
— William D. Vree, Lansing
Comptroller’s judgment
Our state’s comptroller is the person in charge of financial oversight and transparency. So you can understand why a teacher like me would be left to wonder why Susana Mendoza would promote a program that moves public dollars into private hands with no oversight, regulation or protections against discrimination (“Put Illinois students above politics, and opt in to the federal scholarship program,” Feb. 19)..
The people of Illinois have already made our position clear on vouchers. The fact that this administration in Washington is offering them under a new name should be reason to rearticulate that public dollars belong in public schools, not reconsider it.
The state currently owes our pre-K-12 schools $5 billion. The proposal to opt in to President Donald Trump’s Federal Tax Credit Scholarship scheme would divert desperately needed taxpayer dollars away from public schools and into private institutions. In states such as Wisconsin, Florida and Arizona, it has been documented that the money goes missing or misused. And, in our own experience under Gov. Bruce Rauner’s voucher scheme, public dollars went to schools that refused to serve children with disabilities or accept families who didn’t match their religious beliefs.
Public schools are here for every child. They are legally obligated to serve each student who comes through their doors. That’s why it’s so important that the governor fully fund them instead of the current proposal of not reaching that goal until well past 2034.
A comptroller who provides real oversight and advocates for all Illinois children wouldn’t pen an opinion piece tying herself to a program from Washington that would harm our public school students. She should be one more voice urging Pritzker and state legislators to keep Illinois’ promise to fully fund public education.
Our public schools are where children find their voice and their passion and learn about democracy. In most neighborhoods and especially in small towns, they are the heart of our communities. Illinois must reject this federal program and instead recommit to fully and fairly funding the public schools that serve every child, in every ZIP code.
— Cyndi Oberle-Dahm, executive vice president, Illinois Federation of Teachers, and teacher, Belleville
Benefits of Bears move
Gov. JB Pritzker’s guiding the Bears to move to Indiana on the border of Illinois is akin to Tom Sawyer convincing his neighbors of the enjoyment that they would derive from whitewashing his fence. The Bears are not leaving the Chicago area but are being kind enough to move just across the border so Indiana residents can fork over millions, if not billions, of dollars to subsidize a billionaire family for a facility that would likely host 10 meaningful events a year. (Yes, I know that the stadium might host concerts and basketball games and monster truck rallies, but if that was enough to justify the cost, why not build the stadium already?)
Who will benefit from the Chicago Bears in Hammond? Illinois residents. Who is going to build the new stadium? Illinois companies and Illinois residents. Where are out-of-state travelers going to stay for Bears games? Chicago. What skyline are they going to show during games? Chicago’s.
Illinois gets all of the juice for none of the squeeze. Brilliant!
— David White, Bartlett
Pritzker set up as fall guy
The ownership and management of the Bears have positioned Gov. JB Pritzker to be the fall guy if the Bears move to Indiana. Pritzker is doing his job in protecting taxpayers from the whims of wealthy owners who, like petulant children, want a shiny new toy and want the taxpayers cough up money. Joe Mansueto is building his Chicago Fire stadium with his own money, and the citizens of Chicago are benefiting, as will he.
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I am sure there are countless Chicagoans who join me in my outrage over the greed of a handful of billionaires holding Chicagoans hostage.
— David Firnhaber, Chicago
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