New State Legislation Would Give Cook County $20 Million Dollar Gift from Unclaimed, Overpaid Property Taxes
Bill Limits Options for Cook County Taxpayers Who Only Have Five Years
to Collect Overpaid Property Taxes Before County Cashes In
Springfield, IL—In a press conference yesterday, State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias touted the benefits of House Bill 5373 which would put out of business companies that assist tax payers in reclaiming their overpaid property taxes by placing a cap of ten percent on contingency fees they can charge for their services. The bill, framed in a way that suggests it has the taxpayer’s “best interest” in mind, will actually deprive Cook County taxpayers of options that would help them recover the up to $20 million dollars in overpaid property taxes per year. Giannoulias rightly explains in his press release that the State of Illinois has a five year statute of limitations on the recovery of overpaid property taxes, a statute that is vigorously enforced by the Cook County Treasurer’s office. Once expired, the taxpayer has no recourse and the refund remains in Cook County’s coffers. However, Giannoulias in his press release would lead one to believe that these overpaid taxes, like unclaimed property, go into the State of Illinois Unclaimed Property after five years. This is not the case. The money is kept and used by Cook County and the taxpayer is left without recourse.
One of the companies that would be affected by the bill would be Chicago’s Kensington Research & Recovery, a service that assists taxpayers in recovering their overpayments before they expire. Most of Kensington’s clients have refunds owed to them that are nearing the five year statute of limitations and either are unaware of the overpayment or have had trouble getting the money back from the county. Kensington and companies like theirs are a last resort for getting back some of the money they are owed.
“If this bill puts us out of business, so be it,” says Frank Dal Bello, Director of Kensington Research & Recovery. “But I am not going to sit idly by and watch the State of Illinois protect a corrupt Cook County Treasurers office that is trying get away with ripping off taxpayers to the tune of 20 million dollars a year.”
Kensington has helped thousands of Cook County taxpayers get refunds on their overpaid property taxes since 2002. Last year Cook County resident John Cotromanes was contacted by Kensington. After learning that he was owed a refund and wasn’t contacted by the County, he was so outraged he wrote a letter to Treasurer Maria Pappas. Another Kensington customer, attorney Elizabeth Todorovic, tried to retrieve the money from the County herself, but had her application rejected. She hired Kensington and they recovered over $2000 that would have been kept by the Treasurer’s office.
Another issue that has been raised by those critical of the House bill is the fact that Cook County is the only county in the State of Illinois (and one of only a few in the United States) that will accept double payments on the same account. This has lead many to question why the Cook County Treasurer doesn’t implement a system that automatically sends back the overpaid property tax payments. Instead, the County takes these overpayments that have expired and uses them as a source of revenue.
“The State Treasurer is demonizing our industry and claiming he is assisting the taxpayer,” says Dal Bello. “In reality all he is doing is fleecing Illinois taxpayers and pretending to be a hero in the process.”
A COPY OF GIANNOULIAS’ PRESS RELEASE AND DOCUMENTS RELATED TO COOK COUNTY PROPERTY TAXES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Thomas Ciesielka
TC Public Relations
333 N. Michigan Ave.
NEW SUITE: 1810 (as of March 3)
Chicago, IL 60601
312-422-1333
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