Fact vs. Fiction

Fritz’s reforms have resulted in Trump Tower paying approximately $500,000 more in taxes each year than it paid under his predecessor. Fritz closed loopholes that commercial properties like Trump Tower previously benefited from, and he rejected Trump Tower’s appeal in its entirety in 2019 for failing to follow the rules. 

During the height of the pandemic in 2020, Trump Tower filed a proper appeal and was granted a modest reduction in value due to vacant retail space, just as many other commercial properties did that year. Not satisfied with this decision, Trump Tower then appealed to the Board of Review, which granted an even larger reduction. If Fritz’s valuation was not overturned by the Board of Review commissioners, Trump Tower would have paid even more in taxes in 2020.

Fritz has consistently assessed Trump Tower at its actual market value, unlike his predecessor or the Board of Review commissioners, who gave the property excessive tax breaks. 

Fritz’s home is assessed at a higher value per square foot than comparable homes in his neighborhood, and he’s paying more in property taxes than his neighbors. Since he was elected, Fritz has never appealed his assessment or taken a homeowner exemption. 

In 2020, Fritz voluntarily requested a field check of his home to ensure it was not underassessed, resulting in a 61% increase in a single year—an increase nearly twice that of his neighbors. In 2023, his neighbors' assessments caught up, rising to reflect pandemic-era prices, while his came down slightly to make up for his home being massively overassessed. As the Chicago Tribune, confirmed, “...Kaegi’s home was overassessed for years.”

Under Fritz Kaegi’s leadership, Cook County’s assessments are more accurate than ever before, and that’s saved taxpayers nearly $2 billion on their property tax bills. Under the old system, mansions were systematically under-assessed while Black, Latino, and working class neighborhoods were over-assessed. Fritz fixed that by hiring data scientists, making his models public, and adding more staff to track new construction.

The proof is in the results: residential appeals have steadily gone down under Fritz, showing that assessments are more in line with actual market values. Fritz’s office has won national awards for accuracy and transparency, the first time Cook County has ever been recognized this way.

Catching new construction and major renovations has been a systemic challenge in the assessor’s office for decades — and one that Fritz is actively fixing. The office is now catching more than double the missing properties compared to either of the past two administrations thanks to hiring more data staff and permit specialists, upgrading the office’s technology systems, publishing a searchable database of construction permits, and conducting more internal audits.

The problem comes from a lack of data on permits: municipalities are legally required to share permit data with the assessor's office, but many don't do it on time or share it in formats that require extensive cleanup. When a Tribune investigation identified some of these gaps, Fritz audited 27,000 permit records and fixed roughly 500 properties, adding half a billion dollars in taxable property value to the rolls. Fritz is also leading a national push to get assessors access to federal mortgage data, recognizing this isn't just a Cook County problem, but one that affects property tax offices across the country.

When Fritz finished last year’s reassessments, tax bills in Chicago’s Black and Latino neighborhoods were on track to remain flat, with many homeowners set to pay less. But then the commissioners on the Board of Review slashed assessments on downtown hotels, data centers, and luxury apartments, shifting half a billion dollars onto working class homeowners.

The Board of Review cut commercial property values so much that the average Chicago homeowner is now paying $700 more than they should be. Fritz doesn’t control the Board of Review — his opponent’s special interest donors do. The same property tax attorneys and big commercial developers who donate to the Board of Review so they can get big tax breaks are also donating to Fritz's opponent. Fritz has never taken a dime from them and never will because you deserve an Assessor who works for you.

Last year’s tax bills were late because the Treasurer’s office, responsible for sending out tax bills, upgraded to a new technology system. Fritz’s office was ahead of the curve, upgrading to the new computer system in 2021 and finishing this year’s assessments on time.

The Chicago Tribune and WTTW both confirmed Fritz’s office “did not contribute to the delay.” Schools get their money from the Treasurer’s Office, not the Assessor.

Assessments are made with models that use the best and most up-to-date market data, and Fritz uses industry standards and posts his methodology online for everyone to see — something his predecessors never did. What’s unpredictable is what happens after Fritz does his job: politically connected lawyers appeal to the Board of Review commissioners and get massive tax cuts for their corporate clients.

Fritz’s reforms have made commercial assessments more accurate, more transparent, and more predictable than ever before. He expanded outreach to the business community to help bring new development to Cook County. Fritz also administers the Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program to make it easier for developers to build and maintain affordable rentals. That program is responsible for the creation of 15,000 new units of affordable housing that working class residents can afford. Volatility in commercial property tax assessments comes from appeals done by the Board of Review commissioners.

Fritz has expanded property tax relief programs and made them easier to access than ever before. He expanded the Senior Freeze and made the senior exemption automatically renew so no one loses their benefits because of missed paperwork. Fritz expanded outreach to seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities so more homeowners know about the property tax relief they qualify for, and the office has held more than 200 outreach events each of the past three years.

More Cook County residents than ever are getting property tax relief they’re entitled to receive. Fritz’s office has issued a record number of exemptions this year, putting real money back in the pockets of people who need it most. Fritz is also leading the fight for more property tax relief from Springfield, championing “Circuit Breaker” legislation that would protect homeowners when property tax bills spike.