Todd Ricketts got a bargain on his property taxes. Now a state inquiry has been launched.

The Cook County Board of Review wants the state attorney to find out if Ricketts intentionally defrauded the state

510 Laurel Avenue in Wilmette and Todd Ricketts (Credit: Getty Images and Cook County Assessor's Office)
510 Laurel Avenue in Wilmette and Todd Ricketts (Credit: Getty Images and Cook County Assessor's Office)

The state attorney’s office will review Todd Ricketts’s property tax missteps, which saved him some $10 million over the course of a decade.

The review comes after the Cook County Board of Review failed to prove that the Republican National Committee finance chair and Chicago Cubs co-owner intended to deceive officials, according to the Chicago Tribune. The panel noted it cannot compel Ricketts to testify and referred the case to the state attorney — who can, the Tribune reported.

State Attorney Kim Foxx’s spokeswoman said the office was “reviewing the matter at this time to determine the appropriate next steps.”

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The bargain property assessment, which reduced a $2 million property valuation to $828,000, was based on a structure that once stood on the Wilmette property — an older, smaller house that Ricketts demolished in in 2007. In its place, he built a contemporary designer home, almost double the original home’s size, at 5,000 square feet, according to the Tribune.

Ricketts’ attorney said that Ricketts’s missteps were “a series of good faith miscommunications” with no attempt to deceive. Ricketts has made some restitutional steps, backpaying three years of taxes, the maximum under state law, totaling at least $60,000.

Chicago property assessments are on the rise in general, with new county assessor Fritz Kaegi looking to overhaul the “old fuzzy system.” [Chicago Tribune] — Sarah Paynter