19-Feb-26 – Ethics and honesty – rare moral principles in politics – appear to be winning for Fritz Kaegi in his effort to get reelected as Cook County Assessor.
Despite generally underhanded campaigning tactics, aggressive TV-ad rhetoric, and overall rancor displayed by challenger Patrick J. Hynes, on February 7 Kaegi earned the sterling endorsement of the Chicago Tribune for the office of Cook County Assessor.
In the endorsement, the Tribune lauded Kaegi for his fundamental fairness, and being a respectable man who has genuinely managed to avoid conflicts of interest: “In Kaegi, Cook County has an intellectual who thinks deeply about the issues within this [property assessment] system, has excellent command of his data, and its implications, and who has cleaned up the Assessor’s office.”
The Tribune noted that the Cook County assessment system is fraught with politics because residential and commercial real estate are constantly reassessed – every three years in Chicago and the county.
In Cook County, current market value must be established for every parcel of real estate – a herculean bureaucratic task for the estimated 1.9 million properties.
The Tribune noted that there is “blame to share between the assessment system and Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle (left) regarding the current property tax billing shambles.”
Photo by Staff Sgt. Aaron Rodriguez“The race for Assessor is about who pays: big corporations and commercial properties, like Trump Tower, or homeowners,” said Kaegi. “Pat Hynes has made his choice. He is being bankrolled by property tax attorneys responsible for driving up homeowners’ tax bills.”
Kaegi’s reelection team reported that Hynes has accepted more than $97,100 in 115 donations from property tax appeal lawyers, $15,800 from appraisers, and $321,992 from the commercial real estate industry.
The Cook County Inspector General has long recommended that county tax officials ban donations from property tax appeal attorneys as it represents a massive conflict of interest.
Trump Tower, represented by property tax attorneys at Mayer Brown, saw its assessed value slashed by $48 million, a hefty 39 percent reduction.
Reductions in commercial assessments shifted $450 million in taxes onto homeowners’ bills last year,” Kaegi’s team reported. “A typical Chicago homeowner now is paying $700 more per year for property taxes than they should be.”
- $8.87 Billion: Total combined tax levies of Chicago-area governments.
- $700: The ‘hidden tax’ Kaegi says the average homeowner pays due to reductions in commercial assessments.
- 600 Tons: The amount of paper records Kaegi inherited from the Berrios era.
Residential property tax bills in Cook County rose a record 16.7 percent in 2024. Taxes are paid a year in arrears. Critics charge that these increases are driven by government’s insatiable appetite for more revenue and spending. In 2024, the combined tax levies of Chicago-area governments grew by $528.6 million to a mountain-sized $8.87 billion.
Kaegi’s team noted that Hynes, who is running in the Democratic primary, also has taken $40,000 in donations from MAGA Republican donors.
A Beverly native, politically connected Pat Hynes has served as Lyons Township Assessor since 2021. Pat Hynes is a nephew of former Assessor Thomas C. Hynes, who ruled the office from 1978 to 1997.
Favorable valuations allegedly were handed out to wealthy downtown property owners who kept donations flowing into Berrios’ campaign coffers. Nepotism and patronage ran rampant, and ethics rules were ignored.
In 2018, Kaegi ran on a pledge to overhaul Berrios’ dysfunctional office, and voters believed him. A scathing investigative report by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica about Berrios led to Kaegi being elected.
Overall, Kaegi has delivered his promise of reform. Kaegi inherited not only a deeply flawed, ethically bankrupt office, but also a dusty, decades-old data system that relied on reams of paper. When Kaegi first took office, his staff allegedly found 600 tons of paper tax appeals in storage.
Kaegi modernized Assessor’s office, shifted tax burden
Kaegi modernized the aged assessment data systems, replaced most of Berrios’ top staffers, and – most outstandingly – halted accepting tax appeal lawyer donations.
Under Kaegi, homeowner assessments generally have been burdened with a smaller share of the tax levy, while business and commercial properties were handed a larger share. No wonder Kaegi has been targeted and criticized by big commercial property owners and apartment developers.
Kaegi is a highly qualified expert in property assessments, holding both the Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Illinois Assessment Officer designations.
Before serving as Assessor, Kaegi had a 13-year career as a financial asset manager at Columbia Wanger Asset Management. Born and raised in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, Kaegi holds an MBA from Stanford University.
But still there were tax hikes
Kaegi’s two terms as Assessor have been rocky. Critics say he is responsible for recent massive residential tax hikes.
Kaegi also butted heads with the Cook County Board of Review, which is more firmly entrenched with the Democratic Machine. Critics also blame Kaegi for delays in issuing the second installment of real estate tax bills. The bill due on August 1, 2025, was not payable until December 15.
However, according to records, in 2015 – three years prior to Kaegi’s appointment as Assessor – Cook County had contracted with Tyler Technologies, a Texas-based tech firm, to implement new integrated property tax and mass-appraisal systems at a cost of a whopping $87 million.
Tyler Technologies’ performance was substantially delayed and the company subsequently cited converting 20 years of tax data and preparing for a board audit as reasons for the delay.
Photo by Mojahid Mottakin
Tyler Technologies also failed to renew its Illinois Business License that was revoked for non-payment on September 12, 2025.
And you wonder why your tax bills were late?
