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No Vote Taken this Session on Property Tax Bill

June 11, 2019

 

At the urging of BOMA/Chicago members and their building tenants, BOMA/Chicago successfully opposed Senate Bill (SB) 1379 this past legislative session. The legislation,  sponsored by Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi, would have required commercial properties to submit income and expense data annually.

BOMA/Chicago teamed with a coalition of business groups, including the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, Illinois Chamber of Commerce, Taxpayer Federation of Illinois, Illinois Manufacturers Association, National Federation of Independent Business and Illinois Retail Merchants Association, to oppose the legislation. The group has cautioned legislators that they should recognize the risks of sudden changes in assessment practices likely to cause significant increases and shifts in tax burdens.

As a result of BOMA/Chicago's efforts and joint opposition by the business group coalition, no vote was taken on SB 1379 during the legislative session that ended Friday, May 31.

That said, our fight is far from over. We prevented a vote on this bill in the House, but it's certainly not dead yet. Discussions with stakeholders and legislators will continue over the summer recess. Our goal is not only to continue our focus on this particular bill, but also to articulate and promote BOMA/Chicago's positions on related actions the Assessor wants to take and has already taken that we believe will drive up your assessments and increase commercial property's share of the property tax burden. We will focus even more attention on cap rates, the classification system in Cook County, and the statewide equalizer. Look for more from us soon on those items.

We thank all our members and our building tenants for playing such an important and decisive role in our advocacy efforts.

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