The Cook County Board of Review is an independent office created by statute by the

Illinois General Assembly The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in ...

and is governed by three commissioners who are elected by district for two- or four-year terms.

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40 percent of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. ...

, which includes

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 ...

, is the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

' second-most populous county (after

Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

, California) with a population of 5.2 million residents. The Cook County Board of Review holds quasi-judicial powers to adjudicate taxpayer complaints or recommend exempt status of real property.

History

The board had been first created after the task of hearing tax appeals was transferred from the

Cook County Board of Commissioners The Cook County Board of Commissioners is a legislative body made up of 17 commissioners who are elected by district, and a president who is elected county-wide, all for four-year terms. Cook County, Illinois, Cook County, which includes the City ...

to a three-member board of review. The Revenue Act of 1939 converted this appeals system into a two member Cook County Board of Appeals. Both members were elected in a single

at-large At large (''before a noun'': at-large) is a description for members of a governing body who are elected or appointed to represent a whole membership or population (notably a city, county, state, province, nation, club or association), rather tha ...

election held quadrennially. It remained this way until 1998. In 1996, the

Illinois Legislature The Illinois General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. state of Illinois. It has two chambers, the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. The General Assembly was created by the first state constitution adopted in 181 ...

successfully passed Public Act 89-671, which made it so that, in 1998, the Cook County Board of Appeals would be renamed Cook County Board of Review and be reconstituted as a three-member body.

Responsibilities

The board of review allows residential and commercial property owners to contest an assessment made by the Cook County assessor that they believe incorrect or unjust. The Cook County Board of Review is vested with quasi-judicial powers to adjudicate taxpayer complaints or recommend exempt status of real property, which includes: residential, commercial, industrial, condominium property, and vacant land. There are approximately 1.8 million parcels of property in

. The Board of Review adjudicated 422,713 parcel appeals in the 2012 assessment year.

Elections

1939–1994

After the Revenue Act of 1939 recreated the appeals board as the two-member Cook County Board of Appeals, its two members were elected in a single at-large election held quadrennially. Regularly-scheduled elections included: *

1946 1946 (Roman numerals, MCMXLVI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1946th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 946th year of the 2nd millennium, the 46th year of the 20th centur ...

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

Special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

s included: *

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

Since 1998

Since 1998 (when the board was recreated as a three-member body), members have been elected by district. The Cook County Board of Review has its three seats rotate the length of terms. In a staggered fashion (in which no two seats have coinciding two-year terms), the seats rotate between two consecutive four-year terms and a two-year term. The following table indicates whether a seat was/will be up for election in a given year:

Composition

Commissioners

Current

This is a list of the Cook County Board oOf Review Commissioners in order by district. This list is current :

Past iterations

Individuals who served on the original three-member Cook County Board of Review included Patrick Nash. Individuals who served on the two-member Cook County Board of Appeals included

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 ...

Wilson Frost Wilson Lee Frost (December 27, 1925 – May 5, 2018) was an American politician from Chicago, Illinois. For 20 years (1967–1987), Frost was a member of the Chicago City Council, and for twelve years (1986–1998) he was a member on the Cook Cou ...

, Pat Quinn, and Harry H. Semrow.

Members of the Cook County Board of Review (1998–present)

;First district * Maureen Murphy (Republican): December 1998 – December 2006 * Brendan Houlihan (Democrat): December 2006 – December 2010 *

Dan Patlak Dan Patlak (born March 1962) is an American politician who has served as a member of the Cook County Board of Review from the 1st district from 2010 to 2020. Before this he served as Wheeling Township assessor from 2005 to 2010. Early life, ...

(Republican): December 2010 – December 2020 * Tammy Wendt (Democrat): December 2020 – December 2022 *

George Cardenas George A. Cárdenas (born October 9, 1964) was Alderman of the 12th Ward of the City of Chicago. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to his first term on the Chicago City Council in 2003. He was elected commissioner of the 1st di ...

(Democrat): December 2022 – present ;Second district *

(Democrat): December 1998 — December 2010 *

Michael Cabonargi Michael M. Cabonargi (born January 29, 1971) is an American politician and lawyer who formerly served as a commissioner of the Cook County Board of Review from the Cook County Board of Review 2nd district, 2nd district from 2011 until 2022. From ...

(Democrat): February 2011 – December 2022 * Samantha Steele (Democrat): December 2022 – present ;Third district * Robert Shaw (Democrat): December 1998 – December 2004 * Larry Rogers Jr. (Democrat): December 2004 – present

References

External links

Cook County Board Of Review
''official government website'' {{Authority control