Mayoral hopeful Mendoza backs away from graduated property tax plan

Only days after proposing a graduated property tax system that would assess expensive homes at a higher rate than others, Chicago mayoral hopeful Susana Mendoza is ditching the idea.

The current state comptroller over the weekend unveiled a package of initiatives she’d pursue as mayor that included the graduated assessment system. But in an op-ed to Crain’s Monday, Mendoza said she “missed the mark” with the idea.

Residential property in Cook County is assessed at a flat rate — 10 percent — but Mendoza had suggested to Crain’s a system with three or four tiers, with the assessment rate rising with the value of the property.

But she quickly reversed course, saying her idea was “misconstrued” and “misrepresented.” Now she said she will leave the task of overhauling the property tax system to new Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi.

Property taxes on more expensive properties in the county are already expected to rise under Kaegi, who has vowed a number of changes in the way his office values properties after beating longtime Assessor Joe Berrios. [Crain’s] — John O’Brien