FUTURE, WE COULD SEE THEM IN EVERY COMMUNITY.

NOW WITH THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF PROPERTY TAXES DUE IN LESS THAN A MONTH, MANY HOMEOWNERS IN THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST SUBURBS ARE WORRYING ABOUT WHERE THEY'LL FIND THEIR MONEY.

THAT'S BECAUSE RESIDENTS SAW STEEP INCREASES TO THEIR BILLS.

SOME SOARING AT LEAST 30% WHEN RICK ONE PROPERTY REASSESSMENTS SHIFTED MORE OF THE TAX BURDEN AWAY FROM COMMERCIAL PROPERTIES.

BUT SOME LOCAL LEADERS ARE PLEDGING TO NOT RAISE TAXES TO EASE THE IMPACT ON COMMUNITY MEMBERS.

JOINING US NOW WITH MORE ARE MAYOR CHRISTOPHER CLARK OF HARVEY AND MAYOR JOSEPH WOOD'S OF PARK FOR US.

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING MAYOR CAR, I WANT TO START WITH US.

WE JUST MENTIONED COOK COUNTY REASSESS PROPERTIES IN THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST SUBURBS.

WOULD YOU SAY THAT THE CITY OF US PREPARED FOR THE STEEP OF A CHANGE AHEAD OF REASSESSMENTS THIS YEAR?

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

WHO WE WERE IN A POSITION WHERE I WOULD SLEEP.

CHILLY NOTE OF OUR RESIDENTS WERE PREPARED AND TO HAVE SUCH STAGGERING BILLS.

AND 30 DAYS TO PAY.

WE SAW INCREASES WHERE PROPERTY VALUES DOUBLED SOMEONE TO LIKE 1.0, 2, 525% OVER.

SO THAT REALLY CREATED SOME PROBLEMS AND PEOPLE DON'T KNOW WHAT WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO NOW, THE COOK COUNTY TREASURER REPORTED THAT SUBURB THE SUBURB.

FORD HEIGHTS IS THE HIGHEST AT NEARLY 30% PARK FORCE AND HARVEY ARE NOT FAR BEHIND AT ABOUT 24 23%.

NOW, MAYOR, YOU SAY THAT PART FOR US TO HAVE THE HIGHEST TAX PERCENTAGE UNTIL NOW?

WHAT'S YOUR REACTION TO THIS?

ABSOLUTELY.

PRIOR LAST WEEK, IT WAS APPROXIMATELY 46% TAX RATE.

AND SO WHAT'S HAPPENING NOW REGARDS TO WHAT THE SECOND INSTALLMENT WILL LOOK LIKE IS VERY CATASTROPHIC FOR OUR COMMUNITY.

WE HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO BE A FISCALLY RESPONSIBLE COMMUNITY WHEREAS WE'VE GOTTEN A LOT OF STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDING WITHOUT AND WITHOUT THE EXPERTISE AND PROFESSIONALISM OF OUR STAFF, WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT WE WOULD HAVE BEEN WE WOULD BE LARGELY BECAUSE WE ARE A FULL SERVICE COMMUNITY WITH FIRE DEPARTMENT POLICE DEPARTMENT AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT WE ADD TO THE AMENITIES THAT LEAD TO OUR QUALITY OF LIFE AS WE USED TO IN PARK IT'S A GREAT CHALLENGE THAT WE'RE HAVING BECAUSE MOST OF OUR THE A HAS DROPPED.

YOU KNOW, IT'S ALMOST AS THOUGH 40% OF AVI HAS ACTUALLY DROPPED TO A POINT WHERE YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT A TORNADO JUST TOOK 40% OUT OF OUR YOU KNOW, FROM FOR BOTH COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL.

AND SO IT'S A CATASTROPHIC SITUATION.

WE ARE ENGAGING ASSESSOR'S OFFICE AS WELL AS OTHER LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT TO REALLY COME TO A SOLUTION.

MAYOR O'CLOCK, I WANT TO GO BACK TO YOU.

CAN YOU GIVE US A SENSE OF KIND OF LIKE YOUR COMMUNITY AND RESIDENTS AND WHO EXACTLY WILL BE IMPACTED BY RULES GLAD YOU ASKED THAT QUESTION BECAUSE ONE OF THE TREASURE PARTS OF THE TREASURER'S REPORT WAS THAT OF THE 15 HARD-HIT MOST HARD-HIT COMMUNITIES IN TAX BILL THIS SEASON.

13 OF THEM WERE PREDOMINANTLY BLACK COMMUNITIES.

HARVEY IS A PREDOMINATELY BLACK COMMUNITY.

AND WHAT I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT IS HOW IS THIS SUCH A DISPARITY THAT THE HARDEST HIT COMMUNITIES JUST BY CHANCE HAPPEN TO BE.

TALKING ABOUT THE CIVIL QUESTIONS HERE.

ONE QUESTION IS, WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN THE COMMUNITY CANNOT PAY ITS TAX THE WHOLE COMMUNITY, THE CITY OF HARVEY HAS A COLLECTION RATE WITHOUT THESE NEW ASTRONOMICAL BILLS.

SO IMAGINE WHAT THE COLLECTION RATE IS GOING TO BE WITH THE BILLS IN PLACE.

PEOPLE ARE NOT PREPARED THAN NOT READY.

THE COUNTY NEEDS TO PUSH BACK THE DATE PAYMENT.

NEED TO GET RID OF THE PERCENTAGE OF FINES, FEES AND PENALTIES AND THE STATE IN THE COUNTY NEEDS TO WORK TOGETHER TO TRY TO FIX THIS THING.

NO MATTER HOW MUCH THE WE PUT TOGETHER THE NUMBERS AT THE END OF THE DAY THAT PEOPLE CAN'T IT DOESN'T MATTER NOW.

TELL ME ABOUT HOPE ATTACKS THAT INITIATIVE AND HOW YOU ARE HOPING THAT IS GOING TO LOWER THE TAX WELL, ONE OF THE THINGS WE'RE TRYING TO WITHHOLD THE TAX DOT COM IS TOO GET ALL OF OUR TAXING BODIES WITHIN OUR TAX DISTRICT.

2 COMMIT TO A 0% INCREASE ON THE TAX FIRST OF ALL, WITH THE DOES THAT THAT DOES FOR THE NEXT TAX BILL IS IT GIVES THE TAX PEER AN IDEA OF WHAT THE NEXT BILL WILL BE LIKE SO THEY CAN PLAN.

IN THE MEANTIME, IT BUYS US A LITTLE TIME TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH OUR STATE AND COUNTY LEADERS TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT HOW WE CAN FIX THIS PROBLEM.

BUT WHAT MOST PEOPLE NEED TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT IT'S NOT JUST HARVEY PARK FOREST AND DIXMOOR AND PHOENIX RIVERDALE AND DALTON AND CAUSE YOU MIGHT SEE IN SO MANY OTHER COMMUNITIES THAT ARE FACING THIS CHALLENGE THAT WE ALL NEED TO WORK TOGETHER TO TRY TO FIX IT.

NOW, MAYOR WOODS, CAN YOU TELL US WHAT EXACTLY ARE PROPERTY TAXES ARE GOING TOWARDS DAYS FOR SEE CUTS.

YOU DON'T INCREASE THE TAXES.

LET ME PUT IT THIS WAY.

PARK FORCE FOR THE LAST 4 OUT OF 7 YEARS HAVE HAD A 0% TAX WE DID THAT AND HAVE PUT THAT BURDEN ON TO SAY AGAIN.

I MENTIONED EARLIER HOW WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO KIND OFFSET HAVING A 0% TAX INCREASE WITH ACTUALLY GETTING STATE FUNDS AND LOBBYING FOR THOSE FRONTS THAT REALLY KEPT US AT A PACE OF, YOU KNOW, BUSINESS AS USUAL IN THE SENSE THAT I'M NOT THE NEGATIVE CONNOTATION OF BUSINESS AS USUAL, BUT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO BE BUSINESS AS USUAL FROM A GOOD STANDPOINT, WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO NOT HAVE TO OUR SERVICES TO OUR RESIDENTS.

AND WE'RE AT A POINT WHERE WE JUST HAVE TO REALLY CHANGE THE SYSTEM COOK COUNTY PARK FORCE.

AS YOU MAY KNOW, IS BOTH WILL AND COOK COUNTY.

WILL COUNTY DOES NOT HAVE THAT SAME.

PROBLEM, IF YOU WILL, THAT COOK COUNTY HAS AND THAT'S WHY WE'RE ENGAGING ALL THOSE LEVELS OF GOVERNMENT.

WE FOR THE 3 HAVE REALLY BEEN ENGAGING WITH THE ASSESSOR'S OFFICE.

2 NUMBER ONE REALLY MAKE SURE THAT THEY SEE WHAT WE SEE TO SEE THE INCONSISTENCY TO SEE THE LACK OF UNIFORMITY.

AND SO WE WORK TOWARDS THAT.

I THINK IT WOULD BE BETTER NOT ONLY FOR PARK FORCE BEFORE THE ENTIRE SOUTHWEST NOW WE'RE RUNNING OUT OF TIME, BUT I WANT TO AND WITH A QUESTION I'D LIKE BOTH OF YOU TO ANSWER.

WHAT DO YOU THINK NEEDS TO HAPPEN?

HAPPENED TO ENSURE MORE STABILITY FOR HOMEOWNERS.

IN THE IN THE IN THE IMMEDIATE NEEDS TO HAPPEN IS NEEDS TO BE BECAUSE OF THE DISPARITY.

WE KNOW THAT THE REASSESSMENT IS NECESSARY.

ALL LEVELS AND THEN WE NEED FOR OUR GOVERNOR TO ACTUALLY STEP IN AND TAKE THE BULL BY THE HORNS AND SAY, HEY, LOOK, I'M GOING DO LEADERSHIP.

THAT'S WHAT I WAS TOLD WHEN HART LEADERSHIP TO MAKE SURE THAT WE REPRESENT ALL PEOPLE FAIRLY FROM A TAX PERSPECTIVE.

ALL RIGHT.

ONE THING THAT WE KNOW FOR SURE IN THE SOUTH LINE IS THAT THE COMMON DENOMINATORS, THE SYSTEM IN THE COOK COUNTY SAID, HOWEVER, WE'RE NOT MONOLITHIC WHEN IT COMES TO THE DIFFERENT CHARACTERISTICS AND THE FUNCTIONING OF RESPECTIVE MUNICIPALITIES.

WHAT WE NEED TO DO IS FIRST TO AGAIN PARDON, THE PUN REASSESS WHERE WE ARE AS AS A COMMUNITY PARK FORCE RESIDENTS, SOUTHLAND RESIDENTS.

WE WANT