March 13^th marked the 100^th day in office for Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi – and the completion of his office’s 100-Day Plan. Since November of last year, Civic Consulting Alliance has been working with Kaegi and his new team.

Civic Consulting Alliance began working with the Assessor’s office in August 2017. At the joint request of Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle and then-Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios, Civic Consulting Alliance worked with nationally-recognized expert Josh Myers to analyze Cook County’s residential property assessment system.

The Civic Consulting Alliance study found that the system is more variable and more regressive than agreed-upon industry standards, causing a wealth transfer from owners of lower-value homes to those of higher-value homes. The analysis also showed that Cook County’s over-reliance on appeals processes made the system less fair, with owners of higher-value homes more likely to appeal and receive reductions at every stage of the process than owners of lower-value homes.

Following the study’s release in February 2018, Civic Consulting Alliance supported the County in resolving several identified issues. When Kaegi was elected in November 2018, he turned to Civic Consulting Alliance to help develop a 100-Day Plan to continue reforming the system, guided by three principles: fairness, transparency and ethics.

“The initiatives in our 100-Day Plan are critical to help the Office move forward. We want people to know that that the work of restoring fairness to this office will continue in the months and years to come.”

–  Fritz Kaegi, Cook County Assessor

The 100-Day plan is based on 6 objectives, with an emphasis on ensuring continuity of service to homeowners. The Plan includes 30 initiatives, ranging from improvements in policy and valuation to employee training and community outreach. Civic Consulting Alliance and partner RF1 Consulting worked closely with the Assessor’s team to implement the Plan, building an agile project management structure to manage all 30 initiatives. Civic Consulting Alliance has also provided tactical assistance on specific initiatives, including:

• A sales ratio study of the 2018 Chicago Triad of the Cook assessment
• Market research to understand the needs of Chicago’s commercial real estate market participants
• An audit by the International Association of Assessing Officers to evaluate the Office’s performance relative to industry best practices

Moving forward, the Assessor’s Office will measure the progress of the initiatives undertaken in the 100-Day Plan. They will utilize that review to determine priorities for the months ahead, and for their strategic initiatives.