Mid Year Budget Meetings

Board of Review Suggests That All Appeals Be Moved There

​Board of Review
July 22, 2026

Statistics presented and responses provided by Board of Review Commissioners (BOR) Larry Rogers, Jr. and George Cardenas: 

• 290,533 taxpayers appealed assessments for the 2025 tax year, representing 527,937 property parcels (pins) out of a total of 1.8M pins in the County; 32,000 commercial properties filed appeals. 
• Of the residential appeals, approximately 60-70% were successful. 
• The BOR is responsible for representing Cook County with the Property Tax Appeal Board to defend assessments.
• Personnel represents 94% of the budget. Currently there are 177 FTEs. FY2027 may need adjustments. The employees are under the BOR’s first Collective Bargaining Agreement which impacts pay structure, health benefits, and pensions. While currently under budget by 3%, the 2027 budget will have to reflect those changes. 
• The BOR continues to look for increased efficiencies, such as data sharing with the Assessor’s Office and working collaboratively to standardize methodologies and increase consistency. 
• The agency is seeing more appeals as people are more confident in its process than that of the Assessor. Commissioner Cardenas spoke to the possibility of eliminating appeals at the Assessor’s level and increasing funding at the BOR

Questions:

• Lowry: Q on structural changes and impact of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement. A: In process of restructuring organization, which includes changes to managerial responsibilities and securing fair compensation for managers and supervisors.  Expect to have the changes in place by end of fiscal year or beginning of next.  This restructuring should have no impact on getting out future tax bills on time.
• Anaya: Q: what proportion of staff deals with the appeals process? A: Of 177 employees, 80 are involved in analysis with 22 administrative staff handling intake of appeals and related issues. The remaining staff is managerial and support. Of the staff, 80% work on residential. Comm. Cardenas indicated specific breakdown by district was not available but was approximately equal at about 42 per district.  
• Anaya: Q: requested data on success rates for those appealing. Told that 60 to 70% of residential appeals receive some lowering of assessment.  Comm Anaya requested that appeals started w/in the local Commissioner’s office should be tagged so Commissioner kept informed on progress. Comm. Cardenas said this could be done and would take steps to do so.
• Trevor: Q: rate of success of commercial property appeals. There was a long discussion on the difference in appraising commercial vs residential. Commercial assessments  include the income a property produces among other factors. Q: how are residents advised of BOR schedule. A: opening of appeals schedule information is publicized. There is a pre-filing period also.
• Stamps: Q: asked about the impact of the Tyler integrated property tax system.  Told that even though the Board of Review is not part of that system, the delays and need to share information between the Tyler system and the Board has caused more manhours.  Q:  will an increased budget reduce the number of appeals or accuracy? A: additional staff/budget increase will help modernize systems and help in better and quicker responses. 
• Stamps:  Q:  what is being done for seniors?  A:  If postage budget increased, could send notices to all seniors about appeals.  Already try to do as much outreach as possible.  Q: what is the gentrification impact. A: continues to be an issue for residents as a whole.

Office of the Independent Inspector General
July 22, 2026

Independent Inspector General Tirrell Paxton gave a short overview:

• Currently have 24 FTEs, including 20 investigators. There are still 5 open positions. 
• Intends to ask for 5 more staff in 2027 budget.
• Mr. Paxton reiterated that he thinks the office should have a budgetary floor to emphasize its independence.
•  Complaints addressed have increased by 25%. Paxton also noted his department just issued a report on the Tyler Technologies contract for the integrated property tax system. 
• With increased staff and funding, they could address more issues efficiently. 

Questions:

• Degnan: Q: about Tyler, project management why OIG not involved earlier. A. Commissioner Daley and Paxton noted that the OIG cannot get involved during a project, only at the end. 
• Daley: Q: noted that in the OIG 2nd Quarter report, $3M in federal fraud was reported and cases referred to prosecutors at the federal and state levels. Q: how many get prosecuted? A: Paxton indicated the office’s participation ended when cases referred.

Public Administrator
July 22, 2026

Public Administer Louis Apostol explained that the Public Administrator’s Office (PA), while included in the County budget, operates from funds generated through fees charged by the office for administering estates. In addition, the PA manages the real property of decedents in Cook County and facilitates sales where necessary. 

• The Office is currently budgeted for 15 full-time staff and the services of four outside attorneys. 
• Attorneys’ fees are charged directly to the estates with approval of the PA and Circuit Court.
• Through June 30, 2026, the office realized revenue of $2,175,356, already above the revenues in the 2026 budget by $226,374.
• Handled 619 investigations and 391 estates. Over $20,000,000 returned to known heirs and beneficiaries. 
• Assisted in recovery of nearly $2 M through wrongful death settlements.
• Closed on properties resulting in $7 M in sales while continuing to manage 44 additional properties. 

Questions:

• ​Lowry: Q: how the process works. A: Apostol advised that they are called in by the medical examiner to find relatives or responsible people; then investigate the inventory of the estate. 
• Anaya: Q: average # of cases per year. A: Apostol advised there is no way to estimate. He noted that the office dealt with estates that are $10,000 minimum; sometimes executors get removed or replaced by the Court. Q: Is office integrated w/other departments? Data is handled under the CompuTrust system. The Clerk’s office notifies the PA if there is a will on file.

Observer:  Hollis Burgess