Assessor
Proposed budget
represents a 9% decrease from 2011, with 23 positions cut. Of these, only half will result in
actual layoffs as the others are currently vacant. Assessor Joseph Berrios disputed claims
made by people at public hearings that union members are being laid off while the
Assessor filled higher paid positions.
The Assessor stated that he cut the higher paid positions (often those making
over $100,000), and with 95% of the workforce in the union, that resulted in
union employees being affected. He
said that his goal was to keep as many positions as possible in order to deal
with all the work of the office, so he determined reducing the higher-paid
positions would have the least negative effect on his office. However, in reviewing the budget book,
it appears that the actual number of positions has gone up by 32.5. None of the Commissioners asked about
this.
Assessor Berrios
touted the fact that his office has implemented online appeals, and he expects
to complete the triennial reassessment for the southern suburbs by December
10. This will allow his office to
begin work on the Chicago triennial then.
By finishing earlier than in the past, this will allow the Board of
Review to begin their work of hearing appeals from the Assessor’s reassessments
sooner, which in turn should help speed up the process of getting the
2nd installment of the property tax bills out sooner. It has been 34 (!!!) years since Cook
County got the 2nd installment out by August 1, which is what the
statute calls for.
Board of
Review
The elected members
of the Board of Review, Larry Rogers, Jr., Dan Patlak, and Michael Cabonargi are
seeking $7.9 million rather than the $7 million proposed by the President. They stated that the extra $900 thousand
would allow the Board to finish hearing appeals in time to allow the
2nd installment tax bills to go out by Aug. 1, 2012 for the first
time in 34 years!
The Board of Review,
working with the Assessor’s Office and the Bureau of Technology, is also
implementing online appeals. While
this should help the Board cut expenses in the future, for this interim period
as they implement new processes, this extra money is needed according to the
Board.
The Commissioners
who spoke (Sims, Silvestri, Murphy, Tobolski, Fritchey and Suffredin) all
expressed support for the Board’s request, except for Comm. Gorman. She appeared to accept the Budget
Director’s point that even with turnover and unfilled positions this year
(including the fact that Mr. Cabonargi did not take office until Feb.), the
Board was able to finish its work sooner than last year, albeit that the bills
still went out 2 months late.
However, the other Commissioners urged that the Budget Dept. continue to
work to see about finding additional money for the Board of Review. Their concern was that the other
governmental entities (cities/towns, schools, libraries, park districts, etc.)
who depend on property taxes have significant additional costs if the tax bills
do not go out on time.
Recorder of
Deeds
Deputy Recorder
Darlena Williams-Burnett made the presentation because Recorder Eugene Moore was
home recuperating. Most of the
presentation was a defense that the Office needed to continue to be
independent. Comm. Fritchey,
separate from this proposed budget, has proffered that the duties of the
Recorder should be placed under the County Clerk and the separately elected
office of Recorder eliminated.
Since Mr. Moore has stated that he is not going to run for reelection in
2012, Comm. Fritchey has stated that this is the perfect time to eliminate this
elected position. He said that he
expects savings of $800,000 to $1 million, and that he now believes the merging
of the offices could be done in a matter of a few months. Comm. Fritchey says he plans to offer a
proposal to the full Board of Commissioners which would place the issue of
eliminating the Recorder of Deeds position before the voters in 2012.
There was no
discussion of the proposed budget of the
Recorder.
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