BPNC is holding a public meeting to inform residents about the unfair property tax assessment system that results in their properties being over-assessed by 22%. Leaders are demanding a new, transparent and fair system. Lawyers from Chicago Lawyers' Committee will make a presentation about our lawsuit against the Assessor’s Office. Additionally, community residents will demand Alderman Burke drop Donald J. Trump as a client from his private law firm and support a new and transparent assessment system.

 

“During these toxic times, we need our elected officials representing us to actually represent us. Alderman Burke providing property tax relief to Trump is an insult to an immigrant community that’s 85% Latinx. That’s why we’re demanding #BurkeDropTrump.”

- Vince Avalos, 14th Ward Resident and DACA Recipient

 

Brighton Park families are tired of paying 22% more in property taxes than wealthy neighborhoods like River North and Lincoln Park. A ProPublica and Chicago Tribune article published in December 2017 showed that Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios’ error-ridden commercial and industrial assessments punish property owners while benefiting property tax lawyers like Alderman’s Burke private law firm.

On December 14, 2017, the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council and Logan Square Neighborhood Association filed a lawsuit in circuit court alleging that the office of Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios conducts assessments that systematically and illegally shift residential property tax burdens from Whites to Latinx and African-Americans, and from the rich to the poor. The community organizations are represented by a team of lawyers from Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, and Miner, Barnhill & Galland.

At the public meeting, parent leaders will share their testimonies with an audience of over 400 residents. A 14th ward DACA recipient will also share his testimony ad demand Alderman Burke drop Donald J. Trump as client and support a fair and transparent assessment process.