ILGOP Chairman Schneider renews call to prohibit lawmakers from performing property tax appeals legal work, agrees with Chicago Mayor Emanuel’s proposed ban for City Council
From Chairman Schneider’s guest column:
Either we demand a fairer system of property taxation in Cook County, and elected officials who actually look out for their constituents, or we are doomed to lose even more residents to the Republican-run, taxpayer-friendly states of Texas, Tennessee, Indiana and Florida.
Don’t let this moment pass with a cynical acceptance of Chicago’s corrupt culture. We must reform our property tax system and end conflicts of interest. We can no longer allow the very people who write public policy to profit from it.
Legislators and policymakers — the Ed Burkes and Mike Madigans of Illinois — should be prohibited from performing property tax appeal legal work as long as they are elected officials. It is impossible for them to perform the public work the people entrusted them to do without considering the profitability and interests of their own private law firms. They should be free to choose one or the other, but not both…
Crain’s Chicago Business also published an editorial calling on Governor-elect J.B. Pritzker and Chicago’s next mayor to outlaw the “indefensible” practice of “[representing] businesses on their property tax appeals and hold immensely powerful political offices.”
