THE JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPERS | WEEK OF MAY 4, 2008
Court Decision Allows Tax Appeal Intervention
A recent decision by the Illinois Supreme Court paves the way for school districts, municipalities and other property taxing bodies to directly intervene in court cases where property taxes are challenged.
A recent property tax appeal brought by Allstate Insurance through the courts cost the Glenbrook High School Dist. 225 $2.3 million and West Northfield Elementary School Dist. 31 $2.5 million. School officials complained that they were not informed about the cases until after a judgment was rendered.
The high court decision, handed down on Friday, Feb. 22, allows taxing bodies to present evidence to the State's Attorney who represents them in the cases and has greater input in the appeals process.
Dist. 225 officials complain that the ruling still does not allow them to know who is bringing suit against the district.
At Monday night's Dist. 225 board meeting, trustees voted to expand the mandate of their law firm Hauser, Izzo, DeTella and Petrarca, LLC, from simply intervening in cases against the school district to investigating who might be filing appeals that would affect the district.
Property tax appeals are brought two ways, through the Cook County Property Tax Appeals Board (PTAB) or through the courts.
The cases are defended by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.
Glenbrook High Schools Director of Business Affairs Hillary Cienna said the state's attorney defends hundreds of cases and does not always involve the taxing bodies that are affected by the suits.
She said the state's attorney sometimes works with school districts but the current rules expand the mandate of schools to be directly involved in their own defense.
The high court ruling comes from a case filed by the City of Chicago and the Chicago Board of Education against Maria Pappas, Treasurer and Collector of Cook County.