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PROPOSED SUBSTITUTE FOR ITEM #19-4585
REFUND RECOVERY AGENT REFUND CHECK REISSUANCE FEE ORDINANCE
WHEREAS, Cook County ("the County") is a home rule unit of local government pursuant to Article VII, Section 6(a) of the 1970 Illinois Constitution, and as such, may exercise any power and perform any function pertaining to its government and affairs; and
WHEREAS, the efficient and effective operation of the Cook County Treasurer's Office ("CCTO") pertains to the County's government and affairs; and
WHEREAS, pursuant to the Illinois Property Tax Code, 35 ILCS 200/ 20-175, the CCTO is responsible for issuing property tax refunds arising from overpayments and erroneous assessments to eligible refund applicants, including, but not limited to, refund recovery agents, as hereinafter defined, and taxpayers; and
WHEREAS, it has come to the attention of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas ("Treasurer") that the CCTO mailed nearly 1,000 refund checks in January and February of 2018 to a law firm for refunds arising from successful tax objections filed with respect to condominiums at 180 East Pearson Street, and that that law firm did not deliver these refund checks to the property management company for the subject condominiums, Lieberman Condominium and Property Management Services ("Lieberman"), until August of 2018, and subsequently, Lieberman failed to distribute these refund checks to the taxpayers of these properties until December of 2018 and January of 2019, almost a year after the issuance date of the checks; and
WHEREAS, in the wake of this event, the CCTO conducted research and found that, on average, refund recovery agents, such as the law firm mentioned above, fail to cash or deposit refund checks for a longer duration than other refund applicants; and
WHEREAS, refund recovery agents who fail to distribute refund checks issued by the CCTO to their clients in a timely manner or otherwise delay the negotiation of refund checks issued by the CCTO undermi...
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