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* Tim Novak…
Mired in delays for seven years, President Donald Trump’s appeal for a refund of at least $1 million on his Chicago skyscraper is now the subject of two state of Illinois investigations that center on whether a Republican state official pressured his staff to cut the president a break.
Trump’s appeal of the 2012 property taxes he paid for Trump International Hotel & Tower has come under scrutiny by the state’s executive inspector general’s office and then Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s administration, the Chicago Sun-Times has learned.
Those are the result of an anonymous complaint the inspector general’s office received last fall that Mauro Glorioso, the executive director of the Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board, pressured his staff to rule in the president’s favor, rejecting the staff’s decision to deny Trump any refund.
Glorioso is a Republican attorney from Westchester the Democratic governor appointed as the state property tax agency’s executive director last summer.
posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:23 am
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With 62,000 wiretapped phone calls on Alderman Burke, one has to wonder if this subject has come up?
Comment by Steve Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:30 am
It’s about time we get rid of the vacancy relief provision. Whether it’s a bored billionaire who wants a hobby rehabbing a mansion or a vain billionaire who won’t take his name off his property to release it from stigma, the other property owners shouldn’t have to pay their share. The owners of the properties have the right to do what they want, we shouldn’t have to pay for the vacancies.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:38 am
This can’t be right.
All I hear is it’s “Democrat corruption”… even before indictments, even before trials…
(Insert “Combine” rant, John Kass quote, end with “Its the Chicago way”)
This has been going on for 7 years. It’s a state issue, not a federal issue.
If it was referred after Burke’s wiretaps, what the heck was all the confusion these 7 years?
Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:50 am
==get rid of the vacancy relief provision==
That’s like me asking for property tax relief because my kids are off in college. After all, those rooms are now vacant 95% of the time. /s
Comment by Jocko Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:50 am
But everyone says a place isn’t vacant unless the toilets were removed. So did Trump towers have toilets?
Comment by Uncle Ernie Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 9:53 am
===That’s like me asking for property tax relief because my kids are off in college.===
To be fair there might be some people who might need help with vacant properties. Relatives who inherit a poorly maintained home, or they live out of state and inherit a store, for example. These situations could be addressed in a separate grant program, it shouldn’t be a blanket provision.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:00 am
Did Trump remove all the toliets from Trump tower /s
Comment by ike Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:07 am
==Did Trump remove all the toilets from Trump tower==
No, but he did lie about the occupancy rate.
https://tinyurl.com/y4gbgo9l
Comment by Jocko Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:16 am
Trump says he’s smart because he doesn’t pay taxes. So many who scream accusations of socialism at others are apparently glad to pay Trump’s and other very rich people’s share of taxes. Of the reasons why America has Third World income inequality, that has to be one of them.
Comment by Grandson of Man Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:20 am
The reason it’s so difficult to defend Trump without using the word “toilet” is because it’s so difficult to even think about Trump without using that word.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:21 am
There is a difference between a home that is not able to be occupied because of no running toilets and a commercial building that is not valuable because of vacancy. Commercial buildings are valued based on their income stream. IF they are vacant they have no income stream therefore are not as valuable. If you want to change the law then fine but don’t chastise a business owner for following the law. Fraudulently removing a toilet to take advantage of the law is a different story altogether.
Comment by Nagidam Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:32 am
=Commercial buildings are valued based on their income stream. =
That is one method of valuation for the purposes of property tax assessment, but it is not the only method. It is also the most easily manipulated and abused.
Market Value of the property is the most common and is not related to profitability.
The owner is being “chastised” for being a liar and a fraud. Trump lies reflexively.
His appeal also has nothing to do with Pritzker’s property tax issues but it is a lame attempt to link them. More whataboutism form the cult of trump.
Sad.
Comment by JS Mill Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 10:52 am
=== don’t chastise a business owner for following the law. ===
Both Trump and Pritzker were following the law. The law allows a break in property taxes for vacant properties, commercial or residential.
This isn’t about people not following the law, (unless the influence in the above story breaks the law, no one said it did so far). It’s about the law not being a good one.
Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 11:06 am
=== Commercial buildings are valued based on their income stream.====
While I know how the law works it’s not entirely based on just income. Trumps lawyer argued it had a negative net worth. But that place has been vacant because Trump has always been asking for too high of rent for that site. He could produce revenue but the tenants might not fit his image so he is expecting other tax payers to pick up his share by saying its worth nothing.
Comment by Been There Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 11:25 am
I don’t understand why there is such widespread practice for property taxes to be appealed. It’s almost as if the whole process was set up to benefit law firms that specialize in this practice.
Comment by SSL Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 11:30 am
=Fraudulently removing a toilet to take advantage of the law is a different story altogether.=
So one rich guy takes advantage of the law and it’s ok but another rich guy does and it’s not?
Comment by Pundent Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 11:34 am
==So one rich guy takes advantage of the law and it’s ok but another rich guy does and it’s not?==
One is residential, one is commercial
One repaid $330K, the other drags it out 7 years with no intention of paying it back.
Comment by Jocko Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 11:42 am
Uncle Ernie, a place can be vacant with funtioning toilets.
Comment by 17% Solution Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 11:42 am
===and it’s ok===
Who said it was ok, snowflake?
Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 11:50 am
I’d agree that neither scenario is ok. I think the mental gymnastics of justifying why its ok for Trump to look for a tax advantage but Pritzker’s situation is somehow “different” is comical. And I find it particularly amusing in light of those that chastised Pritzker’s comments regarding Trump’s impeachment because of “toilets.”
Comment by Pundent Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 12:18 pm
@JS Mill
===whataboutism===
I indicated there was a difference between the two issues with the Trump and Pritzker scenarios. There is no whataboutism here. If Trump fraudulently misrepresented the vacancy rate or the income or the rate of return to get a tax break, then he should be investigated. But he shouldn’t be criticized for seeking a break readily available to any commercial building owner. Likewise, Pritzker certainly could ask for an occupancy deficiency based on the lax of toilets. If he purposefully removed them to gain that occupancy, then it would be the same as if Trump purposefully lied about any of the three parts of an income valuation appeal.
Comment by Nagidam Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 12:35 pm
=If he purposefully removed them to gain that occupancy, then it would be the same as if Trump purposefully lied about any of the three parts of an income valuation appeal.=
No. For your analogy to work Pritzker would have lied about removing toilets while leaving them in. If the removal of toilets makes a property uninhabitable then it’s uninhabitable. Are you suggesting that the removal of toilets was something that was only available to Pritzker?
I’m not saying that I agree with what either of them did. But there is a whole bunch of whataboutism on display here. And the more you try to explain it the more obvious it is.
Comment by Pundent Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 12:55 pm
@Prudent
Stay with me here. If Trump lied on his appeal that is fraud. If Pritzker removed the toilets to gain an advantage on his appeal that is also fraud.
Comment by Nagidam Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 1:02 pm
I’ve appeared before ALJ Nockov. In my opinion, he’s a knowledgeable, fair and impartial judge.
Comment by James Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 2:41 pm
So I guess if a building has negative value donating it to, say, Chicago Public Schools, would improve one’s bottom line.
Comment by 17% Solution Friday, Feb 7, 20 @ 3:44 pm
Trump has a history of winning these kinds of lawsuits. This should be interesting.
Comment by Touré's Latte Monday, Feb 10, 20 @ 9:21 am