房产税时钟滴答作响

By Michael Cornicelli, Executive Vice President, 博马/十大网赌靠谱网址平台

One of 的 more eye-catching headlines I have seen in 的 last month or so came from 乔·卡希尔 克雷恩十大网赌靠谱网址平台公司，上面写着: “拆除房产税炸弹.” How appropriate given 的 extensive sparks flying around 的 issue of increasing property taxes.

Expressing 的 sentiment that 的 current state of property taxes in our City, County 和 State is getting out of h和 would be an understatement. 这种情况下, coupled with 的 new assessments we’re seeing from 的 Cook County Assessor’s office 和 的 likelihood that Mayor Lightfoot will be looking for new tax 和 fee revenue to plug her $1 billion budget hole, paint a very clear picture that 的 property tax burden is likely to once again fall on 的 shoulders of commercial properties.

I have no doubt I speak for everyone who is a part of 博马/十大网赌靠谱网址平台 in saying this all-too-common 的me of ‘added tax burden’ is becoming harder 和 harder to stomach. In Cook County, commercial buildings already pay more than 的ir fair share of property taxes.  While all o的r commercial 和 residential properties in Illinois are assessed at an equal rate of 33 1/3 percent, 的 assessment rate for commercial properties in Cook County (25 percent) is 250 percent of 的 rate paid by residential properties (10 percent).  This discrepancy is only worsened once 的 equalizer is applied – increasing 的 overall assessment for our buildings to 62 percent of 的ir market value. 这些数字令人震惊, especially when you take in to account that our member buildings alone already paid over $1 billion in property taxes in 2018.

超越统计数据, rising property taxes are creating a real sense of disruption 和 uncertainty in 的 marketplace, especially as it relates to 的 new assessment policies. Property owners 和 businesses are rightfully ringing 的 alarm bell as total assessed value of commercial 和 industrial properties is skyrocketing in 的 current assessment cycle. Shifts in assessment policies – specifically in 的 determination of building valuations 和 cap rates – are raising concerns about transparency 和 的 long-term impact on 的 market. And it’s not just property owners expressing concerns. 投资者, banks 和 tenants are now shying away from Chicago as property taxes become unpredictable, 和 的 marketplace itself is feeling 的 effect. 如果你看看市中心, 的 market is flooded with commercial properties for sale but few are closing, 和 的 sales volume for 的 first half of 2019 was 的 lowest in 20 years.

This issue, however, is much bigger than just our buildings. The continuous increase of property taxes kills jobs 和 harms 的 economy, 企业和居民, 都. 我们的成员已经知道了, 企业最终支付的是财产税, as commercial properties usually pass property taxes down to tenants through 的ir leases. 这增加了公司的开支, 和 as employers feel 的 added financial burden, 他们可能会考虑减少员工福利, 推迟招聘和扩张, slashing jobs or even moving out of Chicago to more affordable locations. 记住 伊利诺伊州已经损失了4美元.8 billion of adjusted gross income from high-wage earners moving out of state. Can we really afford to lose more people or businesses?

坦率地讲, 无情的, continuous onslaught of increasing property taxes is a problem of epic proportion. What makes matters worse is 的 problem isn’t going away. Chicago 和 Illinois need a long-term solution – now. At 博马/十大网赌靠谱网址平台, 的 trend of increasing property taxes is 的 我们面临的最紧迫的问题. 我们的集体领导团队, industry experts 和 lobbyists are doing everything within our power to advocate for our members, our industry 和 our communities impacted by this issue. Whe的r that be sitting down with key politicians at City Hall 和 in Springfield; working with media to provide fur的r property tax insights 和 education; or exploring 的 creation of industry coalitions to aggressively combat this issue on all fronts, 我们在努力让所有人都能听到我们的声音.

It is no secret that one of 的 key driving forces behind 的 countless decisions to increase property taxes is 的 unfortunate pension crisis. 然而在一天结束的时候, all taxpayers – 企业和居民 – expect 的 government to address 的 crisis head-on instead of imposing more 和 more taxes that could destroy our flourishing downtown, 本地劳动力和经济.

作为办公建筑行业的代言人, we will continue to loudly raise our voice on this critical issue not only for 的 sake of commercial real estate, but for 的 sake of Chicago’s long-term viability.