Chicago Democrats Snub Cook County Tax Assessor Fritz Kaegi

In Cook County politics, reform tends to come with a shelf life.

The Cook County Democratic Party snubbed incumbent Assessor Fritz Kaegi, throwing its support behind Lyons Township Assessor Patrick Hynes in next year’s election, Axios reported. It’s a sharp reversal from Kaegi’s progressive-outsider win in 2018.

The endorsement reflects growing frustration over the slow-moving property tax system and Kaegi’s polarizing tenure, which was marked by sharp residential tax hikes, technical delays and a combative relationship with entrenched offices like the Board of Review.

Hynes, the nephew of longtime political heavyweight Tom Hynes, once worked in Kaegi’s office. He now has the backing of the same Democratic machine Kaegi once defeated.

“Sometimes, when I advocate for the taxpayers, I run into a bit of an obstacle,” Hynes said at an event in May, according to Desplaines Valley News. “That obstacle has a name — Fritz Kaegi. It’s time we get rid of that incompetent assessor.”

Hynes has accused Kaegi of blocking taxpayer advocacy with mismanaged reforms. While Kaegi pushed sweeping system overhauls, Hynes favors hands-on support like mobile taxpayer outreach and targeted rebates, pitching himself as the pragmatic alternative focused on predictability, service and relief for residents blindsided by rising bills.

Kaegi has championed systemic reforms, including more transparent data-sharing and a long-sought commercial property data law. But the sticker shock on yearly tax bills persisted in his years as assessor, especially for commercial landlords and homeowners in reassessed zones. Complicated appraisals have kept would-be investors at bay.

At the assessor’s annual investor day event in April, Kaegi said his office had embraced 100 percent of the recommendations in a major county assessment reform report. And he pointed to record rates of omitted-property discovery and expanded staff for assessment defense, in an April interview with The Real Deal.

The county’s digital overhaul of its antiquated system has, however, caused cascading delays in billing, appeals and payments, issues that have dogged Kaegi’s second term.

Meanwhile, the party’s endorsement of Hynes casts doubt on other prospects who were reportedly eyeing the position. Those include all three members of Cook County’s Board of Review, which hears property tax appeals: Dana Pointer, Timnetra Burruss and Samantha Steele, another former Kaegi ally.

Steele made headlines after a November DUI arrest, and the case is pending. In an April interview with WMAQ, she denied being intoxicated and attributed the incident to a medical condition and medication side effects. Bodycam footage showed her crashing into parked cars and refusing to show ID.

Steele painted Kaegi as out of touch with homeowners, vowing to freeze assessments if elected. But she would only run with the party’s backing, she said at the time.

Kaegi, who self-funded $500,000 to his campaign, has defended his record by highlighting his refusal to accept donations from property tax appeals lawyers, a dig at the property tax system he says was long “dominated” by “special interests … some of whom are sitting in jail.”

The Democratic primary is shaping up as a referendum not only on Kaegi, but on how Cook County’s fractured property tax system should be fixed.

— Judah Duke