In a post on Facebook, House District 19 Republican candidate Ammie Kessem is calling out Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios and others who she says have benefited from chicanery in the property tax assessment system.
"Cook County’s assessor, Joe Berrios has repeatedly circumvented the assessment standards that are recommended by the International Association of Assessing Officers … and has helped lined the pocketbooks of career politicians like (House Speaker) Mike Madigan (D-Chicago) and my potential opponent, (Rep.) Robert Martwick ((D-Chicago), both of whom moonlight as property tax attorneys,” Kessem wrote.
Kessem says Martwick failed to report $170,000 for consulting work for Berrios.
“His excuse for the failure, as a property tax attorney and our representative, claimed the forms were too difficult to understand, yet no one else seemed to have these difficulties,” Kessem wrote.
In the post, Kessem criticized a “broken and corrupt system” which is hurting a lot of people.
“We can start to fix this problem by electing leaders who will stand up against the corrupt Madigan-Berrios system that appears to bankroll the campaigns of entrenched career politicians like Robert Martwick who is making thousands off the backs of taxpayers,” Kessem wrote. “I'm running for office so that I can help keep families in Illinois. I'm tired of hearing about the many people who are fleeing our state in droves because they not only can no longer afford to live here, but they are tired of corrupt behavior by these political insiders.”
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