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The Cook County Assessor’s Office’s 2019 Accomplishments

On December 3, 2018, Assessor Fritz Kaegi began his administration of the Cook County
Assessor’s Office, promising fairness, ethics, and transparency in the assessment of property. With
a staff of 236 employees, Assessor Kaegi and his team executed this vision through operational
changes, technological upgrades, and legislative support. Key accomplishments of the office in
2019 include:

• A “Day One” ethics order for the office signed by Assessor Kaegi, which included a gift ban,
a prohibition on the use of office resources for private benefit, significant limitations on
political contributions or activity from office employees, and required disclosure of economic
interests.
• The online publication of assessment code and associated underlying data – a first for an
assessor’s office of this size in the United States.
• Resolution of outstanding litigation that alleged discriminatory and regressive assessment
practices and fair housing violations.
• Implementation of anonymized assessment appeals and increased oversight of
assessment reductions as a demonstration of the office’s commitment to fairness.
• Implementation of auto-renewed senior homeowner exemptions after the Illinois General
Assembly authorized auto-renewal.

We used better technology to support high-quality assessments and taxpayer service:

• Introduced new data sources for use by analysts to ensure that assessments track local
real estate activity affected by these factors.
• Developed code that tests the quality of our assessments using international standards.
• Created internal and external reporting mechanisms to report assessment quality and
diagnose assessment issues in Cook County – a first for the office.
• Created the Property Tax Rate Simulator Tool to show how levies, assessments, and
property class affected Chicago property tax bills.
• Organized the first Market Analyst Day, a new annual event in collaboration with the
City of Chicago, which provides guidance on the office’s assessment methodology to
maintain investor confidence in the city’s commercial real estate outlook.

We doubled down on ethics, fairness, and transparency:

• Publicly posted rules for appeals to ensure all taxpayers are treated fairly.
• Met with key stakeholders in affordable housing at state and local levels to foster
awareness of the CCAO’s role in encouraging maintenance and creation of affordable
rental units in the county.
• Achieved substantial progress toward compliance with the Shakman decree, which
ensures office operations are not driven by politics. Pursuant to their oversight,
Shakman monitors found no evidence of politically motivated employment decisions.
• Conducted outreaches for homeowners and commercial market participants at over 200
meetings throughout Cook County.

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