Fredrick "Fritz" Kaegi is an American politician who has served as

Cook County assessor The Cook County Assessor is the Assessor (property), assessor and county government officer of Cook County, Illinois. Office description Before the creation of the position of Cook County Assessor in 1932, the Cook County Board of Assessors com ...

since 2018.

Early life

Kaegi was born in November 1971 in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, the son of Louise and

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived History of the Roman Empire, the events that caused the ...

historian

Walter Kaegi Walter Emil Kaegi (November 8, 1937, New Albany, Indiana – February 24, 2022) was a historian and scholar of Byzantine history, professor of history at the University of Chicago, and a Voting Member of The Oriental Institute. He received his B. ...

. He grew up in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. He graduated from

Haverford College Haverford College ( ) is a private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Haverford, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded as a men's college in 1833 by members of the Religious Society of Fr ...

and went on to get his

Master of Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular ...

from

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

Career

For more than twenty years, Kaegi worked as an

asset manager Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of all value for which a group or Entity#In law, politics, economics, accounting, entity is responsible. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as co ...

. This included 13 years spent working at Columbia Wagner Asset Management. Kaegi holds the designations of Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Illinois Assessment Officer. He also is a member of the International Association of Assessing Officers.

Cook County Assessor

2018 campaign

A first-time candidate for public office, Kaegi ran for

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

. He largely self-financed his campaign. Kaegi ran as a reformer under the slogan, "No favoritism, just fairness." In the Democratic

primary Primary or primaries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Primary (band), from Australia * Primary (musician), hip hop musician and record producer from South Korea * Primary Music, Israeli record label Work ...

, he defeated embattled incumbent

Joseph Berrios Joseph "Joe" Berrios (born February 14, 1952) is an American Democratic politician who was the Assessor and Chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party of Cook County, Illinois, as well as a registered Illinois state government lobbyist. H ...

. Kaegi originally had appeared to have successfully challenged the ballot petitions of Andrea Raila, kicking her out of the race, thus making the primary a one-on-one race between Kaegi and Berrios. However, Raila still appeared on ballots, as they had already been printed, but no votes were cast for her would be counted. However, after a lawsuit, judges made it so that Raila would be allowed to run, making it a three-person race once again. Berrios was the powerful chairman of the

Cook County Democratic Party The Cook County Democratic Party is an American county-level political party organization which represents voters in 50 wards in the city of Chicago and 30 suburban townships of Cook County. The organization has dominated Chicago politics (and ...

. During the primary election, Kaegi received the endorsements of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'', ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', and '' Daily Herald'', as well as politicians such as Danny Davis, Bill Foster,

Robin Kelly Robin Lynne Kelly (born April 30, 1956) is an American politician from Illinois who has served as the U.S. representative from since 2013. A Democrat, Kelly served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 2003 to 2007. She then served as c ...

Mike Quigley Michael Bruce Quigley ( ; born October 17, 1958) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for since the April 7, 2009 special election. The district includes most of Chicago's North Side and several of its western suburbs. ...

Bobby Rush Bobby Lee Rush (born November 23, 1946) is an American politician, activist, and pastor who served as the U.S. representative for for three decades, ending in 2023. A civil rights activist during the 1960s, Rush co-founded the Illinois chapter ...

, and

Jan Schakowsky Janice Schakowsky ( ; née Danoff; born May 26, 1944) is an American politician who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 1999, and she previously served as a member of the Illinois House of Re ...

. The ''Chicago Tribune'' described his victory against Berrios as a "rare topping of the

machine A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromol ...

." After defeating Berrios to be the Democratic nominee, Kaegi won the general election against Republican Joseph Paglia.

Tenure

As assessor, Kaegi began the process of reassessing all of the county's properties, to be done over a three-year period. Kaegi reassessments have been seen as shifting the tax burden from residential to commercial properties. His predecessor, Berrios, had undervalued many commercial properties. Kaegi has received pushback from localities for the increased value assessments he has given to many commercial properties, as localities worry that if commercial property owners successfully appeal to the

Cook County Board of Review The Cook County Board of Review is an independent office created by statute by the Illinois General Assembly and is governed by three commissioners who are elected by district for two- or four-year terms. Cook County, which includes Chicago, is the ...

, there is a risk that local tax bodies will need to give tax refunds to the ownership properties in question. Amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, Kaegi moved to reduce the tax burden on most commercial and residential properties, to account for the pandemic's impact.

Personal life

Kaegi lives in Oak Park,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. He and his wife, Rebecca, have three children.

Electoral history

References

1971 births Cook County Assessors Haverford College alumni Illinois Democrats Living people People from Oak Park, Illinois Politicians from Chicago Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni CFA charterholders {{Cook County Assessor, state=collapsed