Claypool Accuses Berrios of Pay to Play

By Kevin Robinson in News on Oct 28, 2010 1:30PM

In a press conference held just in time to be upstaged by Tom Dart's announcement that he's not running for mayor, Forrest Claypool, who is running against Joe Berrios for county tax assessor, released a review of where taxes breaks have been granted in the county.

Claypool laid out what he calls the Cook County map of clout, detailing reductions in assessments for building owners whose tax attorneys donated to Berrios’ campaign. Noting that his campaign staff had filed numerous Freedom of Information Act requests at the Board of Review and the Illinois State Board of Elections, “Joe Berrios reduced billions, yes, billions in value for property all across Cook County,” Claypool told CBS2. “That means millions of dollars in taxes won’t be collected from these clout-heavy businesses. That means millions of dollars in taxes will be shifted onto the backs of homeowners and businesses without clout.” Claypool charges that over 90 percent of donors to Berrios's campaign got lower tax assessments for their clients.

In a press release sent later in the day, the Berrios campaign said that it has "not yet reviewed all of the data, therefore disputing it all is difficult at this point. However, it was immediately evident Claypool has either fabricated information or made several errors that he should address immediately." The statement went on to refute some of Claypool's accusations, saying that "the Board of Review gives more tax breaks to homeowners, not commercial property owners, according to public records. For the 2009 tax year, 80 percent of those residential property owners who filed with the Board of Review got a change in their assessment."

The complexity of the issues in this race are staggering for the average voter that hasn't looked at the intricacies of how the assessor's office and the board of appeals works. Berrios has claimed that decisions made by outgoing Assessor Jim Houlihan have caused the recent difficulty that homeowners have faced in appealing their property tax bills. Claypool claims that Berrios is in bed with tax attorneys. Whether voters will take the time to absorb the information being presented remains to be seen.