Two times a year, my office mails nearly 1.8 million property tax bills and collects over $18 billion. That’s not a typo — $18 billion. As Cook County Treasurer, I oversee the second-largest property tax collection and distribution system in the United States. Only Los Angeles County is bigger. But[Read More…]
Opinion
Page 4: H-F represented at No Kings protests, even in Kansas
We might look back on June 14, 2025, as a tipping point. Donald Trump has a long history of transgressing norms, but he appears to have finally gone far enough to awaken mainstream America to the danger of his presidency. The No Kings day of protest on Saturday had been[Read More…]
Column: How property tax levies work
The levy: It’s not a dam, but it is a word you should know! Since I first stepped into my office 27 years ago, one question has repeatedly come up: “Why do my property taxes always go up?” It’s a valid concern. At the heart of the answer is something[Read More…]
Page 4: The season of pride: Pope pride, gay pride, Black pride
Whatever challenges, problems and woes south suburbanites were wrestling with prior to May 8, we all had reason to be distracted from them temporarily by the momentous news that the newest pope had Southland roots. Pope Leo XIV, formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, lived in Dolton as a child.[Read More…]
Letter: Flossmoor Station co-owner opposes possible changes to village food truck policy
I write on behalf of Flossmoor Station Restaurant & Brewery to encourage the Flossmoor Village Board of Trustees to keep in place the current village ordinance which prohibits the use of food trucks in the central business district of downtown Flossmoor except for certain limited village-approved special events. Flossmoor[Read More…]
Letter: Former resident laments condition of Independence Park in Homewood
My name is William Pariseau, I am a Boy Scout from Troop 237 in Frankfort Square. I used to live in Homewood. My grandparents still live in Homewood, and I go to music lessons at the Melody Mart in the downtown. I pass by the American Revolution Bicentennial Memorial Park[Read More…]
Letter: On TIFs: How they starve schools and cause taxes to rise
Through the course of the municipal campaign and over the last several years, many people have asked me about TIFs. What are they? How do they work? I hope that this will serve as a condensed (as brief as possible for such a complicated financial instrument) explanation of how TIFs[Read More…]
Page 4: Listening, learning are keys to fighting racism in our community
Last month, I suggested we find ways to engage, as a community, in sustained conversations and action on race. The idea is to disrupt the pattern, the episodic nature of our concern for a problem that is deeply embedded in American culture and operates continuously even when unmarked by controversy.[Read More…]
Column: Tariffs are crushing local businesses — we must act now
As your Cook County commissioner representing Homewood, I am deeply concerned about the destructive impact tariffs are having on local businesses, farmers and working families. Tariffs — essentially taxes on imported goods — are often framed as tools for economic protection. But in reality, they amount to economic sabotage. They[Read More…]
Letter: Village board meeting structure fails to make residents’ views welcome
At the LWV forum for our trustees, prior to our election, a question was asked of all candidates regarding the village’s participation at the regularly held board meetings. Each of the eventual winners of that election — all members of the Greater Homewood Party — agreed that more participation was[Read More…]
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