Cook County’s watchdog on Tuesday criticized a member of the county Board of Review for disclosing confidential details about the Chicago Bears’ property tax enchantment on the Arlington Heights racetrack bought by the workforce.
County Inspector General Tirrell Paxton’s report doesn’t identify any officers. But the info of the case match allegations in a whistleblower lawsuit filed towards Board of Review Commissioner Samantha Steele this summer season, who was dealing with the dispute between native faculty districts and the Bears, who bought the previous property Arlington racetrack and have set their sights on constructing a brand new stadium there. The workforce has since centered on staying on Chicago’s lakefront, although officers stated the suburban location stays a chance.
The IG’s discovering carries no penalty, solely a suggestion that Steele endure ethics coaching for violating the board’s ethics coverage and the state property tax code by leaking confidential details about the Bears’ pending enchantment of their property valuation and exhibiting bias towards the workforce in feedback to the media.
Steele declined to remark Tuesday.
The IG’s investigation discovered {that a} BOR official “disclosed confidential data to the media” about two pending appeals — a violation of the board’s ethics coverage on sustaining confidentiality — and “made public statements indicating bias towards a appellant”, a breach of the obligation of impartiality. within the state property tax code.
An inside dispute over the Chicago Bears’ property tax enchantment to the county Board of Review beforehand spurred a lawsuit from former Steele worker Frank Calabrese, who alleged that Steele leaked the board’s evaluation determination of monitor possession earlier than a ultimate vote was taken. That lawsuit continues to be pending.
The three-member Board of Review is a quasi-judicial physique that opinions appeals of property assessments. Property homeowners convey instances to the board in hopes that their assessments – and property tax payments – shall be overturned. The Bears, who bought the Arlington Heights property in 2023, have been in negotiations with native faculty districts about how a lot they must pay in property taxes for the positioning when their case got here earlier than the board.
Before that board assembly, Steele “made a remark to a media supply indicating that they believed the valuation” of the racetrack “associated to the acquisition value paid,” the IG report says, although an enchantment would probably come to the council. The Bears argued that the valuation ought to be considerably decrease than the sale value.
Steele advised the Tribune in the summertime of 2023 that the workforce had “create(d) the market” when it bought the positioning. The IG stated the feedback indicated that Steele believed the valuation was accurately associated to the acquisition value, suggesting that Steele was inclined to carry the Bears at “an artificially excessive worth.”
The IG report, nonetheless, incorrectly attributed to Steele a press release that the info supporting the evaluation “converse for themselves.” That quote got here from a spokesperson for the alderman, not Steele.
According to the IG, the leaks of confidential data included a personal appraisal by a property tax dealer, particulars in regards to the board’s deliberations in addition to a preliminary settlement on an analysis among the many three board members throughout the decision-making course of.
The Board of Review finally set the positioning’s valuation at $125 million. While it was lower than the $197 million the workforce paid for the positioning, the Bears have lengthy stated it wasn’t value that a lot. They took the case to the state Property Tax Appeals Board in April, in search of a $7.2 million refund from native taxing authorities.
Three faculty districts intervened within the case, which continues to be pending.
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