Mitch Goldstein | Coach Mitch | August 4th, 2007DailySouthtown
July 18, 2007 By Kristen Schorsch – Staff writer
Oak Forest sets sights on tax-delinquent land
Four pieces of vacant land in Oak Forest whose owners haven’t paid property taxes in at least two years might become city-owned land targeted for redevelopment.
City council last week unanimously agreed to participate in the Cook County Tax Reactivation Project.
The city might use the space for single-family homes or for water retention, community development director Adam Dotson said.
Oak Forest originally was going to have a chance to snag seven pieces of land, including a 30,300-square-foot lot at 15337 Kenton Ave. But when the owner paid the more than $7,000 in late taxes, those parcels became unavailable. (drats! – ed. note)
The county acquires tax-delinquent property after owners haven’t paid their bills for two years. Owners have the option of paying their taxes to get their land back.
The mission is to acquire tax delinquent, vacant and abandoned properties and return them to the tax rolls, Davis said. That includes commercial, industrial and residential properties.
If municipalities don’t want the properties, the county sells them at a public auction.
See full article: http://www.dailysouthtown.com/news/472455,181NWS9.article
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Coach Mitch’s REFLECTIONS
Government land grab
Under the banner of “returning properties to the tax rolls” governments are aggressively taking properties or marking them eligible for inclusion in a tax deed auction.
Having the government in charge of land distribution can be very disturbing.
Revitalization is a relatively newer movement and policy by municipalities, aimed at cleaning up vacant, abandoned buildings, and it can be a good tool – if run properly. However, as with any government tool, it can also be used against the public – to enhance a preferred party.
When looking at a list of tax delinquent properties, you will easily notice that there are many, many properties that have not been foreclosed upon, even though the legal time requirement has been met.
Opportunity for corruption
How is it that some tax delinquents own many properties and sometimes they do not get tax foreclosed. They just go on, for years, not paying property taxes.
The potential for manipulation is very significant. Yes, there are statutes, regulations, guidelines, policies and rules. But remember, the persons who created the rules and policies are the very same persons who create the work-arounds and loopholes and exceptions.
It is the classic situation of a Fox Watching the Hen House.
- Except, in this case the Fox: Designs, Lets out to bid, Supervises the construction, Holds the keys to the locks, and Controls all the legal procedures, including Oversight. Who said that there isn’t any such thing as a perfect crime.
- Many of the decisions are arbitrary so rules and policies are unevenly implemented.
- Decisions are left to the complete discretion of some unknown public official or clerk.
- You are not likely going to bring the official up on some charge because they won’t give you some information or because they won’t tell you why they did something?
Power at work – Consider just a few possibilities:
1 The Tax Collector chooses which properties shall be investigated for further processing and when.
- There are rules that stipulate when tax delinquent properties are to be investigated, but the rules are routinely ignored.
- I have never been able to find what set of standards are used for how a property is picked to not be processed when tax delinquent.
2 The Tax Collector chooses which properties continue with tax delinquent processing.
- I have not been able to find out the procedures followed to stop the processing of a tax delinquent property. It just happens.
3 The Tax Collector chooses which properties are included in a tax lien certificate auction.
- This is statutory, but many are pulled, for cause. I’ve never seen the cause.
4 The Tax Collector chooses which properties are included in a tax deed auction.
- You would be very surprised at the significant percentage of properties that are tax delinquent for 10 years or more and they have never gone to tax auction.
- This is the case even in tax deed states where statute makes it mandatory to auction properties after a set period.
5 The taxing jurisdiction can and does “take” tax delinquent properties for its own use.
6 The Tax Collector can and does act on behalf of the taxing jurisdiction to “take” certain properties.
7 The taxing jurisdiction determines if it is interested in a property prior to it being let to auction, like a first right of refusal.
8 The taxing jurisdiction determines who gets which properties that the municipalities own.
9 The taxing jurisdiction determines what price will be paid for the property that the municipalities own.
- Over-The-Counter bargaining is done. Certain people get better deals than others.
10 The Tax Collector is in charge of Private Bid sales, where sealed bid envelopes are proffered.
- There is no outside, independent oversight of the bids as they are being opened. Literally speaking, any number could be spoken and no one would know the difference.
11 The Tax Collector can often conduct a Private Sale, if he so chooses.
12 The Tax Collector has great latitude in choosing which rules to enforce, when to enforce them and upon whom any of the rules will be enforced. It can be very, very arbitrary.
13 The Tax Assessor has the same leverage in his office. He determines how much to assess a particular property. That is power.
Power without incorruptible oversight is a recipe for untold corruption
The Tax Collector has complete control over his office and his “work product.” Work product is not considered to be pubic sector information. They can give their records willingly or they must be gotten through some legal authority.
When these so-called Revitalization Projects take a property, they then also determine who will get the property and the price that shall be paid! This allows “insiders” or persons of certain political parties to get preferential treatment.
This is what is meant by “The Good Old Boy” network.
Do you think its outlandish? Have you ever heard, “If you want a lower property tax assessment, you better enroll in the ________ party.” Fill in the political party of your choice. They all do it.
I have been involved in such cases. But those are stories for other days. Know that similar manipulation is done with mortgage foreclosures. Did you ever wonder if all properties are equal in the Loss Mitigation department? Why does one property get foreclosed upon and another does not, even though it is just as deserving?
It is obvious that manipulation has occurred. Favored persons, who wanted certain property and who had sufficient political muscle, can and do manipulate the system for their own benefit. And who would know? It is done behind closed doors.
You can find the inequities – if you’re looking
Check tax records and you will see that local policemen and other officials get favored tax treatment, etc.
If his $250,000 house were to be under-assessed by 10% to $225,000; at a $15/$1000 tax rate, the savings would be $376 per year. That may not sound like much, but multiply that out for a few years and it becomes significant, especially with tax increases. That is like getting a 1% raise in an era when it’s common for municipal employees to get 3% raises. Don’t forget that this under cover raise is not taxable, which makes it closer to a 1.3% raise. That takes the municipal employees raise from 3% to 4.3%.
What to do?
For those who believe that there are checks and balances in the system, just disagree with these officials and see just how arbitrary they can be. Then try to employ a purported check and see if you get any balance. Power covers power. This is part of the rational why I try to go around the system and deal with sellers directly – before the auction.
Now you know more reasons why I always make friends with the Tax Collector and the Tax Assessor and the tax sale auctioneers.
Coach Mitch’s REFLECTIONS™
Blue Skies,
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