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(Originally appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times, November 29, 1999) As a result of recent news stories about the possible influence of campaign contributions on members of the Cook County Board of Tax Review, I am introducing legislation that would permit taxpayers to retain someone rather than an attorney to represent them before the board. Senate Bill 1276 states that "a person is not required to be an attorney to represent a taxpayer before the Board of Review". Currently, if a tax consultant wins a certificate of error for a client with the assessor's office, only a lawyer is then allowed to represent the taxpayer before the Board of Review. Tax consultants, tax services, tax representatives and appraisers, agents, brokers, and accountants are not allowed to appear before the board. We must end the practice of the three-member review board allowing only lawyers to represent taxpayers and then filing their campaign coffers with contributions from attorneys who represent cases. I will also be filing a bill to prohibit individuals representing clients before the Board of Review from making campaign contributions to the three board members. As reported by Raymond R. Coffey, lawyers contribute regularly to the board members. Most alarming, all the money goes to the three people on the elected board. My ultimate goal is to change state law to convert the board from an elected to an appointed body. We must take the influence of campaign contributions out of the process. State Sen. Miguel Del Valle (D-Chicago) CFAT News Source news@fairtaxes.net Break Lawyers Hold On Tax Review Cases |
