Better Government Association

Reform — sort of

By Greg Hinz - Crain’s Chicago Business
January 23, 2006

You don't have to pay to play at the assessor's office anymore. But some still do.

With his back-slapping manner and reform stance, Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan would seem to be a different breed from the dusty warhorses who for decades ran the office as the Democratic Machine's campaign piggy bank.

One former assessor had an aide whose job was to phone property tax lawyers who were late in sending their checks for the assessor's next fund-raiser. Another assessor would call and gripe himself if the check was too small. In comparison, Mr. Houlihan has banned his staffers from soliciting donations, and he talks at great length about how he's so opened up the office that taxpayers often don't need to hire a lawyer to get a break.

That's why I was a bit surprised a few weeks ago when the muckraking Better Government Assn. (BGA) called to point a few fingers at Mr. Houlihan. After checking its data and looking at a few other items, I've concluded there's no evidence anyone had to pay to play.

But I've also concluded that it's fair to ask whether business as usual has ended entirely in the assessor's office or just gotten more subtle, because plenty of quid is still changing hands.

What the BGA did is examine the roughly 300 cases in which Mr. Houlihan approved what are known as 6b applications, which slash property tax assessments for up to 10 years on property redeveloped for industrial use. The BGA found that 68% of the lawyers who handled 6b cases also donated to Mr. Houlihan's campaign committee. In fact, the BGA says, those lawyers (or their law firms or partners) gave him $751,000 in the six-year period ended June 30 — 22% of the cool $3.4 million in individual donations Mr. Houlihan's committee reported in that period.

Mr. Houlihan insists there's no connection. While some lawyers perhaps think it's a good idea to donate and some even "may want to tell a potential client that they're a contributor," the perception is wrong, he says. "We have kept a separation between the professional and political."

Mr. Houlihan further notes that 6b applications have to be approved by local municipalities before they get to him. His office has rejected only two applications in six years, both for technical reasons, he continues. And fewer than half of applicants used a lawyer who actually had donated to the assessor, since some applicants didn't bother to use a lawyer at all.

Point taken. Still, after calling around, I decided to take a look at a related matter: how Illinois Comptroller Dan Hynes funded his U.S. Senate campaign in 2004. The matter is pertinent because Mr. Hynes' father, Tom, resigned as assessor in 1997 and arranged for Mr. Houlihan to succeed him. Some believe Tom Hynes still has a lot of influence with the assessor's office.

As it turns out, Comptroller Hynes got lots of money from those with interests in the assessor's office. Dozens and dozens of property tax lawyers, most of them big donors to Mr. Houlihan, gave more than $300,000 to the would-be senator. Land appraisers chipped in another $50,000, with real-estate developers giving at least $320,000. The combined figure is nearly $700,000, more than 11% of the campaign money Mr. Hynes garnered from all sources.

Why'd they give? As in the case of the 6b money, no one offers any proof of quid pro quo. Tom Hynes says there's "no story" in him trying to help his son by calling old friends and associates after several years out of office. Mr. Houlihan says he threw a fund-raiser for Dan Hynes at his home that raised about $10,000, but did no more and runs his office himself.

But as BGA Executive Director Jay Stewart puts it, "If there's smoke, maybe you should go over and check to see if there's fire."

"I am very concerned about changing the perception and the tone about how this office does business," replies Mr. Houlihan. "I think we have made considerable progress."

I'd say there's more progress to be made.