NEW ITEMS
Meeting of the
County Board Room,
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PROPOSED RESOLUTION
ITEM #1
Submitting
a Proposed Resolution sponsored by
MIKE
QUIGLEY,
PROPOSED RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, the present Cook County property assessment and
taxation system is spread out over four different offices: Assessor, Auditor, Clerk and Treasurer; and
WHEREAS, this division of authority means that no single
official or office is accountable for the overall functioning of the system;
and
WHEREAS, under the current system many taxpayers often do not
know where to turn for assistance; and
WHEREAS, confusion surrounding the property assessment and tax
system has led to situations in which
taxpayers, through no fault of their own, face the loss of their property or
the accumulation of substantial fines;
and
WHEREAS, under the existing structure many property tax
records must be kept in several offices simultaneously and updates to data are
not always shared between offices; and
WHEREAS, consolidation of property tax functions under one
office would create greater efficiency in staffing and recordkeeping, saving
money on both personnel and information systems and reducing the amount of time
needed to process data; and
WHEREAS, a single property tax administration office has been
supported by interested citizens and civic groups for nearly a century, with
the earliest known expression of such support coming from the Bureau of Public
Efficiency in 1917; and
WHEREAS, two of the County’s own advisory panels, the Home
Rule Study Commission in 1976 and the Revenue Study Committee in 1988, have
proposed a single office for property tax administration; and
WHEREAS, other major counties have begun streamlining their
property tax infrastructure in pursuit of greater accountability and more
efficient operations; and
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS,
WHEREAS, Cook County, by eliminating unnecessary division of
labor and vesting property tax administration in a single official, will become
a leader in government innovation and efficiency; and
WHEREAS, Illinois Senate Bill 717 will create the elected
office of Cook County Tax Administrator to assume the property-tax-related
functions of the Cook County Assessor, Treasurer, Clerk and Auditor, and will
eliminate the office of Cook County Assessor, beginning with the 2006 election;
and
NOW,
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Commissioners of Cook County urges the Illinois General
Assembly to pass Senate Bill 717 creating a Cook County Office of Tax
Administration and, upon its passage, calls upon the Governor to sign the bill
into law.
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Commissioner Quigley, seconded by Commissioner Hansen,
moved to suspend the rules so that this matter may be considered. The motion carried unanimously.
Commissioner Quigley, seconded by Commissioner
Silvestri, moved that the Proposed Resolution be referred to the Committee on
Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations.
(Comm. No. 265214). The motion
carried unanimously.
PUBLIC TESTIMONY
ITEM #2
Pursuant
to Rule 4-30, Todd Edmonds, addressed the President and Members of the Cook
County Board of Commissioners. Mr.
Edmonds spoke regarding access to the Office of the Inspector General.
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ITEM #3
Pursuant
to Rule 4-30, Maurice Perkins, President, Inner City Youth Foundation,
addressed the President and Members of the Cook County Board of
Commissioners. Mr. Perkins spoke
regarding overcrowding at the
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ITEM #4
Pursuant
to Rule 4-30, Charles Edward Bey, addressed the President and Members of the
Cook County Board of Commissioners. Mr.
Bey spoke regarding overcrowding at the
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ITEM #5
Pursuant
to Rule 4-30, George Blakemore, addressed the President and Members of the Cook
County Board of Commissioners. Mr.
Blakemore spoke concerning several issues regarding