As south suburban homeowners prepare to pay their historically high property tax bills ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline, Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi faced hundreds of frustrated residents Monday night in Calumet City who demanded immediate relief.
Residents packed the auditorium at Thornton Fraction North High School demanding answers at the prompting of Calumet City Mayor and Illinois State Rep. Thaddeus Jones, who has blamed Kaegi for jumps in people’s assessed values that translated into massive tax increases for many.
“Residents are pissed off because these assessments are going on — we didn’t get notice, we didn’t get communicated,” Jones told reporters before the meeting. “So we want to make sure that the assessor starts communicating.”
Jones pushed Cook County to extend the deadline for payments two months to Oct. 1 to help those caught off guard by their bill who will have to contribute extra in monthly interest if they are not able to shore up the money in time.
Adrienne Hatton was one of dozens of homeowners who lined up at one of two podiums in the aisles of the high school theater to ask Kaegi about their tax situation. Hatton, who has lived on Plymouth Drive in Markham for 17 years, later said she’s been “awake every night scared” about how she will manage her bill that increased from $2,200 to more than $6,000.
She said she is “praying something comes in the mail daily that this is an error, because I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“I’m hurt and I’m heartbroken,” Hatton said. “This is my community that I love, that I clean up … and this is how you do us in return.”
Kaegi said he empathized with Hatton and others who expressed similar feelings and encouraged them to advocate for specific changes including expanding who qualifies for exemptions and collecting better data on commercial properties to prevent the Cook County Board of Review from cutting the commercial tax burden while homeowners continue to suffer.
“I’ve dedicated my life, after I was in another career, to try and fix the system,” Kaegi said. “And I know that might not be the best with those bills staring you in the face, but I want you to know that I’m on your side and trying to change this.”
While many residents said they did not fully blame Kaegi’s office for the high taxes, they remained frustrated with the lack of recourse they have available short term.
“What do we do for this year? What do we do for now?,” asked Calumet City resident Vernetta Randle. “When you’re already a month behind in your mortgage because it went up so high. It’s a fear that I may lose my house.”
ostevens@chicagotribune.com
