A Note About Morrison’s Bid for Cook County Board of Review

-By Warner Todd Huston

Last cycle this website did not support Mr. Morrison for the first district seat on the Cook County Board of Review. There was a big reason for this. Morrison was a heavy supporter, donor and voter for Democrats prior to suddenly launching his campaign as a Republican.

Morrison gave a lot of money to Democrats, voted as a Democrat, and supported them where he lived in Chicago’s 19th Ward (See Morrison’s campaign donation and voting history here). This made me very, very wary that he was merely a Democrat plant attempting to steal away a GOP seat. It looked like a typical, left-wing, dirty trick that we are so used to seeing from unprincipled Democrats.

Morrison, however, denies he is a Democrat. He says he supported Democrats and voted Democrat in the 19th Ward because there weren’t any viable Republicans in his area to help support his business interests.
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A Note About Morrison’s Bid for Cook County Board of Review”


Sean M. Morrison Announces Candidacy for the Cook County Board of Review

From the campaign of Sean M. Morrison for Cook County Board of Review…

Cook County, IL—Fed up with excessive property taxes? Palos Park businessman Sean Morrison is, and today he announced that he intends to seek the Republican nomination for Commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review, 1st District. The 1st District encompasses nearly five-hundred square miles of Cook County and includes over 1.7 million residents.

Morrison ran for Commissioner in 2010. Despite entering the race late, Morrison nearly defeated current Commissioner Dan Patlak. Morrison has decided to seek the office again as Patlak has failed to live up to any of the promises he made during his campaign. Morrison stated “Patlak’s time in office has been much more Democratic than Republican—he is constantly yielding to the Democratic agenda and forgetting about taxpayer concerns.”
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Sean M. Morrison Announces Candidacy for the Cook County Board of Review”


Confirm Your Property Tax Exemptions‏

From the office of Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Dan Patlak…

Within the next week, the Cook County Treasurer will be mailing you the second installment of your 2010 tax bills. The time period to appeal your 2010 assessment at the Assessor’s office or at the Board of Review has already expired. However, you should make sure that this bill includes the Exemptions to which you may be entitled. The most common Exemption is called the Homeowner Exemption. You must have lived in your home as of January 1st 2010 to qualify. To qualify for the Senior Exemption (which must be renewed each year) you must have lived in your home as of January 1, 2010 and you or another owner of the home must have been at least sixty-five years old during 2010. To see if you received these exemptions, look at the right side of the bill a little more than half way down where the exemptions are listed. Then look farther to the right to see what the dollar amount is that corresponds with the respective exemption. If the dollar amount is $0.00 and you think you qualify for the exemption, then you should bring your tax bill to the nearest Assessor’s satellite office located at each of the five Cook County Courthouses (except Maywood which is closed). Bring proof of your residency and age and they will issue you a new tax bill that reflects the discount for the exemption(s).
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Confirm Your Property Tax Exemptions‏”


Cook County Board Of Review Progress Report‏

From the office of Dan Patlak, Cook County Board of Review…

It has been two months since my swearing in on December 6th and I thought it would be appropriate to reach out to give you a progress report.

Following our victory in November, our first order of business was to assemble a staff that would have as its main focus, serving the needs of the residents of the 1st Board of Review District as well as all residents of Cook County. We have assembled a team capable of serving resident needs by bringing on board individuals with a variety of backgrounds, experience and education. Among our new hires is a former Township Assessor and Board of Review analyst, a certified residential appraiser, two law school graduates, a former County Commissioner, three MBA’s with strong business backgrounds and a CPA. We also have several individuals with strong technology backgrounds. Among our group, we have individuals who are fluent in Spanish, French, German, Greek, Polish, Hindi, Punjabi and Arabic to support the diverse needs of our taxpayer population.

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Cook County Board Of Review Progress Report‏”


Board of Review Opens Six Townships for Appeal

From the Office of Commissioner Dan Patlak…

CHICAGO— The Cook County Board of Review has announced dates for filing assessment appeal complaints for property owners in Barrington, Berwyn, Bremen, Calumet, Lakeview, and Evanston Townships. The filing dates for property assessment appeals begin on Tuesday, January 11, 2011 and will end on Thursday, February 10, 2011.

Property owners may appeal their assessments to the Board if they believe that their assessment is too high. A lawyer is not required to file an appeal on behalf of a residential property owner.

Anyone interested in receiving an assessment appeal complaint form can call the Cook County Board of Review at 312-603-5542. Appeal complaint forms can also be picked up in person at the Board, 118 N. Clark in Chicago or printed from our website at www.CookCountyBoardofReview.com.
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Board of Review Opens Six Townships for Appeal”


How to Appeal Your Property Tax Assessment in Wheeling

Wheeling Assessor, Dan Patlak, gives you some needed info about your property tax bill in Wheeling Township.

Dan emailed me to let me know of this helpful video service.

Even though our campaign is well under way, I’m still working hard as the taxpayer advocate in my position as the Wheeling Township Assessor. I was recently featured in a video with State Senator Matt Murphy giving information regarding the current round of tax bills and what you can do about them. In this position is has been my pleasure to help thousands of people to lower their tax burdens. I have learned the ins and outs of property taxes and am now ready to fight for taxpayers Cook County Wide at the Cook County Board of Tax Review.

Dan is also running for the Cook County Board of Review.

http://www.electpatlak.com/


Democrat Lawmaker Accidentally Proves High Taxes Hurt Business

-By Warner Todd Huston

You see it all the time, Democrats in any particular state or county government proposing to raise sales taxes to raise “much needed” revenues — I say “much needed” because spending cuts are never considered an option for what ails a government budget. But these money-hungry Democrats never once consider the harm they are doing to the businesses in their own jurisdictions especially when surrounding states (or counties) happen to have lower sales taxes than the new, higher level being introduced by Democrat tax hikers. These tax-mongering Democrats simply assume that raising the taxes will raise the revenues and that people will not flee business in their own area and travel to where things might be bought cheaper.

The reality is, though, even as such tax-loving Democrats raise taxes on their fellows and with wide-eyed innocence claim they are doing right by their constituents, businesses lose business to surrounding communities that have lower taxes. Naturally, tax raising Democrats refuse to acknowledge this singular economic fact.

It turns out that we can thank State Rep. Michael Rodrigues of Westport, Massachusetts for giving us one of the most perfect examples of how states lose business due to tax raising Democrats.

Oh, it isn’t because Rodriques was economically astute enough to understand reality. No, it’s because this tax-raising pol proved that even he will flee his high tax state to buy goods in a neighboring state where taxes are lower.
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Democrat Lawmaker Accidentally Proves High Taxes Hurt Business”