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CHICAGO TRIBUNE
HOUSE PASSES TAX-APPEALS BILL TO PROTECT COOK

By Joe Biesk
Tribune staff reporter
March 31, 2001
SPRINGFIELD -- The House passed a bill Friday aimed at protecting local
governments in Cook County from losing potentially hundreds of millions of
dollars due to a recent change in tax laws.

The action on a 66-46 vote came at the request of Cook County Assessor
James Houlihan, who contends that the current way that commercial property
tax appeals are handled at the state level is unfair.

Cook County property-tax payers can protest their assessments through the
county's Board of Review. If they are unsatisfied, they can take the matter
to the state Property Tax Appeal Board.

The state board is a relatively new step in the appeals process for Cook
taxpayers.

Houlihan, a Democrat, said the legislation is needed to ensure that the
state board assesses property based on a Cook County ordinance that says
non-residential property--such as commercial, industrial and large
apartment buildings--must be assessed at 38 percent of the market value.

GOP lawmakers defended the state appeals board process--pushed through by
Republicans in the mid-1990s--as a way to grant taxpayers more generous tax
relief. That's because the state board has the leeway to base assessments
for commercial property owners on rates that are less than Cook County's
flat 38 percent level, the Republicans say.

Sponsoring Rep. Barbara Currie (D-Chicago) warned that pending property tax
protests under the new procedure could lead to a loss of hundreds of
millions of dollars in annual revenue for local governments and school
districts while big commercial property owners cash in. The measure, which
now goes to the Senate, would not affect individual homeowners, Currie said.

Also, the House voted 77-31 for a measure that would stiffen penalties for
people convicted of carrying out violent crimes on behalf of a street gang.
Rep. Susana Mendoza (D-Chicago) said the bill would help curb gang activity
in Chicago.

Rep. David Miller (D-Dolton) opposed the legislation, saying it could
elevate the punishment for murder to the death penalty simply because a
person is affiliated with a gang.

In the Senate, abortion foes approved three measures to require that
special medical care and civil legal protections be given in rare instances
when a fetus briefly survives an abortion. Opponents contended the
proposals, which go to the House, are an unconstitutional interference with
a woman's right to an abortion in any circumstance.







http://chicagotribune.com/news/metro/chicago/article/0,2669,SAV-0103310218,FF.html

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