CHICAGO (AP) – Experts are raising questions about a formula used by Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi to give homeowners a break due to pandemic-related job losses, which a published report says resulted in some high-profile businesses and residents benefiting. The Chicago Sun-Times reports Kaegi’s office used its own neighborhood projections of unemployment instead of relying on sale prices to determine the value of residential property. The Civic Federation, a watchdog group, has been critical of the method, saying it was applied unevenly. Kaegi’s office dismissed the newspaper’s analysis, saying adjustments were issued fairly and transparently.
