Forrest Claypool is a DEMOCRAT not an Independent! Has always been, always will be a Democrat. Don’t let the Independent party label fool you, he is as independent as Berrios is. He also says he is a reformer! By definition “reformer” means: make changes in (something, especially an institution or practice) in order to improve it (Oxford English Dictionary). Has Claypool reformed anything as a County Commissioner? Heck, has he even voted against anything that the majority wanted while on the County Board? Check his voting record, you will see he is just another Democratic hack. Another cog in the Machine that does what he is told.

See the latest news about Claypool here at ForrestClaypool.biz

He also says he has “experience” in Assessment because he was a Deputy Commissioner at the Board of Tax Appeals in 1988. That was 22 years ago. And a Deputy Commissioner does about as much work as a Commissioner, nothing except take credit for “lowering some peoples taxes” (code words for RAISING THE TAX RATE! INCREASING YOUR TAXES!) Ask Berrios how many days he puts in working as a Board of Review Commissioner. I have worked at the County Assessors office for over 2 years and I make daily stops at the Board of Review office. I have seen Berrios 2 times in over 2 years. He couldn’t be there much if thats all I have ever seen of him! Find out more about Berrios here. Claypool cannot tell you how to do an appraisal or assessment, he just throws out some key words to impress those that don’t know about the subject. Thats not good enough to be the Assessor!

If you want to vote Independent, you have to go outside of the 2 party system. If your fed up with the corruption of both sides, pick a truly Independent candidate. I take no orders on any issue from anyone. I accept no campaign contributions from corporations, Political Action Committees, lawyers or unions.

Claypool, on the other hand was picked by Houlihan to be his successor. Do you like Houlihans politics? It has led down the path to higher taxes, more confusing assessments and more scandel. If you want more of the same, vote Claypool or Berrios. If you want constructive change in Assessment policy and application, vote for Robert C. Grota!

For more info on Claypool, check out this blog: http://jimhoulihan.blogspot.com/2010/07/we-hate-to-interrupt-your-summer.html and this one too:  http://www.examiner.com/conservative-in-chicago/forrest-claypool-independent-reformer

Everyone knows about the Berrios and Madigan link (see http://www.clouttracker.org/cloutwiki/index.php?title=Joseph_Berrios) but how about the Berrios to Berrios link?  Are Joe Berrios and Toni Berrios tied together at the Statehouse?  Do you think Berrios has any influence over his daughter Toni concerning his private lobbyist business representing the Regional Transit Authority, Illinois Coin Machine Operators Association and Illinois Licensed Beverage Association.  Meanwhile Toni sits on the Gambling Committee, Mass Transit and Infrastructure Committee and is the sponser of HB470, expanding liquor sales.  Do you think there is any connection here?  (see http://illinoisreview.typepad.com/illinoisreview/2009/08/joe-and-toni-berrios-the-circle-of-democrat-life—-if-you-dont-know-the-name-joe-berr.html)

If you want more Politics as usual, “Pay for Play” and more of the “Machine”, vote for Joe.  Otherwise the choice is clear.  A vote for Grota is a vote for removing politics and corruption from the Assessors office.  Make your voice heard.  Get rid of corruption, bad management and bad government.  Vote for Robert C. Grota in the November election.

Have you heard enough about the corruption at City Hall and Cook County?  What is the latest scandal published in the media?  I think its time to clean up all the corruption and get rid of it for good!

Did you know that this corruption is affecting your property taxes?  If you pay the salaries of those at City Hall and Cook County, every penny of waste comes from your tax dollars.  Even worse, if the “Pay for Play” scam is taking place at the Board of Review, for every dollar in reduced assessments given out to undeserving politicians, lawyers and crooks, you must make up the difference!  It works this way; every time an undeserving reduction in Assessed Value is given out, the Tax Rate increases.  A higher Tax Rate means higher taxes for you!  Do you think you should pay the cheaters taxes for him?!

The “hard to explain” assessments are just a cover to this corruption.  The less you understand about how assessments are made and why appeals are granted or not granted makes it  easier to hide the corruption.  Vote for an open, easy to understand assessment and appeal process.  Vote for Robert C. Grota for Cook County Assessor!

Assessment data in Cook County has not been accurately collected in over 30 years.  With the aging of property data and all of the “just plain wrong” property data, assessments could not be even close to accurate.  To accurately value property, you need accurate property data.  Everyone has heard the  saying, “Garbage in equals Garbage out”.  This is also true with assessments.  And that is the state of affairs at the Assessors Office.

I maintain the Assessors Office should accurately update the outdated and “just plain wrong” assessment data in a cost efficient manner and maintain it, so that it is not necessary to completely update the data again.  This can be done without any increase in spending at the Assessors Office.  Modern assessment software and techniques can efficiently accomplish this in less than a year.

This would lead to the discovery of prior omitted or under-assessed property and the correct valuation of property so that every assessment would be fair.  This in turn would lead to a lower tax rate as property formerly missed is now paying its fair share.

The current process for appeals at the Assessors Office and Board of Review are totally arbitrary.  One house has the same exact Assessment data but has a totally different Assessed Value.  Why is this?  The appeals are processed based on property comparisons to other properties in the same neighborhood.  A house that is unique for its neighborhood (say a 40 year old, 1000 square foot Ranch home in the middle of many larger 2 story older homes) will often get a reduction in Assessed Value if appealed to the Assessors office, while the house that is like most other homes in the neighborhood will not.  The Board of Review is a little different.  If you ask for a big change, they may grant it, if you ask for a smaller change, that’s all you will get.  Regardless of whether you appeal based on a sale of the property, uniformity or overvaluation, the appeal is treated the same for everyone–compared to the rest of the houses in the neighborhood, what dollars per square foot is the house assessed at?  It has nothing to do with uniformity, Market Value or sales prices, its just a lottery.  A certain percentage of the appeals will receive an adjustment.

I believe that every taxpayer should have an input and a voice in the valuation of their property.  To make this available to every taxpayer in the County, I would hold one on one meetings at Town Halls so that taxpayers can meet with an assessor, have the valuation process explained to them, and be shown real evidence as to the value of their property.  If the taxpayer then would like to have additional data considered, he may present it.  All available information the Assessors office has would be available for inspection, including sales data, property data, maps and reports.  Taxpayers could also inspect properties that were used in the sales comparison approach.  Uniformity comparisons would also be available to anyone who wanted to compare their property to another of similar type.

This information would also be made available on the Internet so that anyone not wishing to wait in line or who cannot make it to the Town Hall, could inspect the data and add additional data to be considered by the assessor.

Let me know what you think.   Do you think this would make assessments better understood?