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<h2>March 17th</h2>

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<p><strong>Check out the latest news from Team Fritz. For media inquiries contact: info@fritzforassessor.com</strong></p>

<h2>Latest Campaign Developments</h2>

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<p><span style="color: var(--color-bg0-text-accent-secondary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-bg0-text-accent-secondary);"><strong style="color: var(--color-bg0-text-accent-secondary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-bg0-text-accent-secondary);">Fritz Kaegi </strong>cleaned up decades of pay-to-play corruption at the Assessor’s office and fought for more property tax relief for homeowners. Now he’s running for re-election to bring down costs for middle-class families by making commercial properties pay their fair share.</span></p>

<h1>Fritz Kaegi is fighting to make big corporations pay their fair share.</h1>

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<p><strong>Property taxes in Cook County can be confusing.</strong> Multiple government offices are involved, and it's not always clear who does what, or why your bill looks the way it does. Fritz's office gets these questions constantly, so we put together this page to explain how the system works, what Fritz controls, and what he's fighting to change.</p>

<h2>Learn More About Property Taxes</h2>

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Property Taxes 101

<p>Right now, homeowners in Cook County are getting squeezed by rising property tax bills while big corporations get sweetheart deals. The system is rigged,<strong> and it’s why the March 17 county election is so important.</strong></p><p><strong>Cook County Assessor </strong><a href="https://www.fritzforassessor.com/"><strong>Fritz Kaegi</strong></a> ran to make the system fairer for homeowners, and he’s made real progress. But powerful special interests have blocked a number of his reforms, and now they’re bankrolling a primary challenger to stop him.</p>

<h4>Michele Smith: I'm Sticking with Fritz</h4>

<p>"This endorsement ultimately comes down to trust and trajectory. Fritz Kaegi broke a corrupt system and is still working to stabilize the one that replaced it. That work is hard, imperfect, and often unpopular with people who benefited from the old way. But the alternative is not “competence.” It’s capture.<br></p><p>That’s why this guide endorses Fritz Kaegi for Cook County Assessor—because reform is worth defending, and corruption is not something we get to shrug off as politics-as-usual."</p>

<h4>Girl, I Guess: Progressive Voter Guide Endorses Fritz Kaegi</h4>

<p>Cook County’s <strong>property tax appeal process</strong> shifted $1.91 billion in taxes from businesses onto homeowners over the last three years, <strong>exacerbating inequities in the city and</strong> suburbs, a new report found.</p>

<h4>Chicago Tribune: Appeals system raised property tax bills for Cook County homeowners, report says</h4>

<p><em>Assessor Kaegi applauds ruling, calls on lawmakers in Springfield to make families whole and pass circuit breaker legislation to protect homeowners</em><strong><br></strong></p>

<h4>Assessor Fritz Kaegi on Tax Sale Court Ruling: “Families Should Be Getting Relief”</h4>

<p>New Trier Township market prices <strong>matched assessor’s valuations</strong> after protests of 42% hikes</p>

<h4>North Shore mansion deals support Kaegi's 'too-high' assessments</h4>

<p><strong>If you want to link an external news source,</strong> use the “link” icons on the sidebar. Anything linked externally will automatically be listed as “news” and any article you create on the site itself will automatically be listed as a “press release.”</p>

<h4>Chicago seniors will benefit from expanded property tax relief</h4>

<p><strong><em>Cook County Assessor</em></strong><em> calls charges blatant political retribution meant to criminalize protest and free speech</em><br></p>

<h4>Assessor Fritz Kaegi Condemns Federal Charges Against Local Officials Who Protested at ICE Facility</h4>

<p>Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi took office in 2018 pledging to rid the office of corruption and create a process that more equitably shares the tax burden between homeowners and businesses.</p>

<h4>Daily Herald: Endorsement Kaegi for Cook County Assessor</h4>

<p>Fritz is pushing for “Circuit Breaker” legislation that would protect homeowners when property taxes spike, like they did this year. He's working to expand the Senior Freeze and make it automatically renew so more seniors can stay in their homes. And he's fighting to close the loopholes the Board of Review commissioners use to give corporations tax breaks they don't deserve.</p>

<h2>How is Fritz helping to fight for property tax relief?</h2>

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<p>When the board gives hefty tax breaks to corporations, it shifts the tax burden to homeowners.</p>

<h4>Sun Times: Cook County Board of Review bears a lot of blame for your home's property tax increase</h4>

<p><em>Independent study finds that Assessor Kaegi made property tax assessments fairer for middle and lower priced homes</em></p>

<h4>Cook County Homeowners Saved $1.9 Billion Under Fritz Kaegi’s Reforms, University of Chicago  Study Finds&nbsp;</h4>

<p>Assessor Fritz Kaegi has “clearly improved” the fairness of Cook County’s property tax assessment system over his two terms, according to <a href="https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/voices.uchicago.edu/dist/6/2330/files/2025/09/Kaegi-Evaluation-9_04.pdf">a new study</a> crediting his office with reversing problems that led to the overvaluation of lower-priced homes and the undervaluation of high-priced home</p>

<h4>Chicago Tribune: Study finds Kaegi has improved fairness in Cook County property assessments</h4>

<p>Two main reasons. First, local taxing bodies keep increasing how much money they levy each year. Fritz has pushed for more state funding to bring down local tax rates.&nbsp;<br></p><p>Second, the Board of Review commissioners keep handing out excessive tax breaks to corporations. On the latest tax bills, those giveaways cost homeowners an extra $700. Fritz assesses properties fairly, but he can’t control what the Board of Review commissioners do during the appeals process that follows.</p>

<h2>Why are property taxes high?</h2>

<p>Fritz ended decades of pay-to-play corruption where politically connected property tax lawyers got special deals for their clients. He properly assessed mansions and luxury properties that were paying way less than they should. That's saved homeowners almost $2 billion.<br></p><p>Fritz expanded the Senior Freeze and added automatic renewals so taxpayers don't lose benefits because of missed paperwork. He's held more than 200 community events to help homeowners understand appeals and exemptions. And his office has won national awards for accuracy and transparency — the first time Cook County has ever been recognized this way.</p>

<h2>What is Fritz doing to make the system fairer?</h2>

<p><strong>We’ve always found Kaegi to be a fundamentally fair and decent man</strong> who has genuinely managed to avoid conflicts of interest. He’s an intellectual who thinks deeply about the issues with this system, has an excellent command of his data and its implications, and who has cleaned up the office following the sordid Berrios years.</p><p><strong>Kaegi is endorsed for Cook County assessor.</strong></p>

<h4>Chicago Tribune Editorial: Fritz Kaegi for Cook County assessor</h4>

<p>Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi <strong>explains why property tax bills are delayed</strong>, how the Senior Freeze Exemption may be at risk, and<strong> what his office is doing to ease the burden on senior homeowners.</strong></p>

<h4>Fox 32: Cook County assessor pushes for more tax relief as seniors face property bill delays</h4>

<p><em>Both U.S. Senators as well as a majority of Cook County’s congressional delegation have endorsed Assessor Kaegi</em><strong><br></strong></p>

<h4>Congressional Democrats Endorse Fritz Kaegi For Re-Election As County Assessor</h4>

<p><em>Cook County Assessor submits three times more signatures than required in a show of widespread grassroots support</em></p>

<h4>Fritz Kaegi Submits More Than 22,000 Petition Signatures to Appear on Ballot for Re-Election</h4>

<p>With a glowing endorsement by the Chicago Tribune, Fritz Kaegi is leaning on his record of data-driven reform as he fights a primary challenge from Patrick Hynes, a candidate Kaegi claims is ‘bankrolled’ by tax appeal attorneys.</p>

<h4>Loop North News: The Assessor’s War: Kaegi vs. The Machine</h4>

<p>Cook County – The Cook County Assessor’s Office approved a record number of exemptions for seniors and veterans with disabilities in Tax Year 2024, helping tens of thousands of homeowners receive much-needed property tax savings.</p>

<h4>The Citizen: Assessor’s Office approves record number of tax-saving exemptions for seniors and veterans with disabilities</h4>

<p><em>Assessor candidate </em><span style="color: var(--color-text-accent-primary); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text-accent-primary);"><strong><em>Pat Hynes has taken $300,000</em></strong></span><em> from the real estate industry, including 115 donations from property tax attorneys who profit from corporate tax cuts</em></p>

<h4>Assessor Fritz Kaegi Slams Pat Hynes for Taking Donations From Trump Tower’s Property Tax Lawyers, MAGA Donors </h4>

<p><strong>Cook County leaders</strong> clinched a rare win on property taxes in Springfield, as lawmakers <strong>approved a measure expanding tax relief for </strong><a href="https://therealdeal.com/chicago/2024/09/19/15m-tax-relief-fund-proposed-for-seniors-low-income-residents/"><strong>low-income seniors</strong></a><strong> —</strong> a move that could shift costs elsewhere and add fuel to the county’s political battles ahead of next year’s elections.</p>

<h4>The Real Deal: Lawmakers sign off on Cook County senior property tax relief</h4>

<p>The Assessor determines what every property is worth. Taxing bodies (schools, parks, municipal governments) decide how much money they need to raise. Your tax bill is your share of what the taxing bodies levy, based on your property’s value.&nbsp;<br><br><span style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);"><strong style="color: var(--color-text); text-decoration-color: var(--color-text);">Here’s the problem:</strong></span> The Assessor’s office is just one piece of a multi-step process. After Fritz assesses properties fairly, machine politicians on the Board of Review hear appeals —&nbsp;mostly from big commercial properties —&nbsp;and give out hundreds of millions of dollars worth of tax breaks to corporations. When big commercial properties pay less, homeowners have to pay more to make up the difference.</p>

<h2>How does the property tax system work?</h2>

<p><em>“If you want to know why some factions of the machine don’t like me, it’s because I put a stop to the pay-to-play corruption detailed here by the feds”</em><br></p>

<h4>Assessor Fritz Kaegi Condemns Berrios-Era Corruption After Feds Sentence Former Official For Taking Bribes</h4>

<p>The other county offices responsible for sending out tax bills upgraded to a new technology system this year, which caused delays across the 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.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>What happened with tax bills this year?</h2>

<p>Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi and the top challenger to unseat him in next month's primary election agree the local property tax system is broken. But they are pointing fingers in very different directions about who is to blame</p>

<h4>Why are Cook County property taxes a mess? Assessor candidates weigh in.</h4>

<p>Fritz Kaegi is running for this third term as assessor against challenger Pat Hynes — who the Democratic Party endorsed — the Lyons Township assessor who spent 23 years working in the Cook County assessor’s office as a residential field inspector.</p>

<h4>Sun Times: What to know about the Democratic primary race for Cook County assessor</h4>

<p><em>More than $270,000 of Pat Hynes’ donations come from real estate interests; one in four donors are property tax appeal lawyers</em><br></p>

<h4>Assessor Candidate Pat Hynes Bankrolled by Property Tax Attorneys and Real Estate Industry</h4>

<h4>Editorial: Fritz Kaegi for Cook County assessor</h4>

<p><em>The ad, “Seesaw,” highlights how Fritz is fighting to un-rig a property tax system that gives corporations big tax cuts while forcing homeowners to foot the bill</em><strong><br></strong></p>

<h4>Fritz Kaegi Launches First Ad of Campaign, Exposing How Corporations Shift Tax Burden onto Homeowners</h4>

<p>The Cook County Assessor’s Office hosted its second annual <strong>Hispanic Heritage Month event on Sept. 27, bringing together policy experts, elected officials, real estate professionals, and homeowners</strong> to discuss the theme of Empowering Latino Homeowners. A recording of the event, which was hosted at Richard J. Daley College on Chicago’s Southwest Side...</p>

<h4>Assessor’s Office Hosts “Empowering Latino Homeowners” Event | Lawndale News</h4>

<p>Recommendations for competent governance and sensible ideas</p>

<h4>A City that Works’ Guide to the 2026 March Primaries</h4>

<p><strong><em>Assessor Fritz Kaegi</em></strong><em> sounds alarm on increasingly troubling pool of donors for Hynes campaign</em></p>

<h4>Assessor Fritz Kaegi Calls on Pat Hynes To Return $25,000 Donation From Family That Cheered Murder of Alex Pretti</h4>

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