Court Opinion

ID: 9541804
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-07 16:28:47.186027+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:04:55.348847
License: Public Domain

MR. JUSTICE KLUCZYNSKI, dissenting: The majority opinion refers to People ex rel. Hamer v. Jones (1968), 39 Ill.2d 360, 372, and correctly notes that in that opinion this court stated “we cannot abdicate our responsibilities even though our approach must necessarily be a negative one and chaos may ensue.” In effect, the majority result in this case is a clear abdication of judicial responsibility. I would adopt the first alternative suggested by the majority and require that the 1974 multipliers be recomputed so as to result in an equalized assessed valuation of 50% of actual value, as required by law. As succinctly noted by the majority opinion, the statutory procedure designed to equalize uniformity in assessed property valuation has been blatantly disregarded for many years by local and State officials. In an effort to curb this official disdain for the statutory mandate, plaintiffs have persevered for a decade throughout the courts of this State. Again they are frustrated by this court’s refusal to presently afford them relief for the reason that the resulting delay in the tax collection process may create financial difficulties presumably necessitating the issuance of tax anticipation warrants. This reasoning is prevalent in each taxing year. There is no presently ascertainable basis from which to conclude that a comparable chronological sequence of events causing delay may not arise in succeeding years. In this case plaintiffs acted as promptly as possible when they had knowledge of the illegal action concerning the tax multipliers for the 1974 taxing year. The use of the invalid multipliers was attributed to a “misunderstanding. The trial court then sought to partially offset the illegal multipliers by ordering that the equalized assessed valuation shall be no less than 42% of full value. Such valuation should have been set at 50%. The majority opinion may be construed by some as implying that this court was, in part, responsible for creating the delay when we stayed enforcement of the trial court’s order, thereby permitting the Department to certify the 1974 multipliers for a substantial majority of this State’s counties. This is not so. The trial court’s order was facially invalid in that it required the equalized assessments to be no less than 42%. The past performance of some officials entrusted with the assessment and equalization of property values clearly indicates that no recomputation would have occurred in counties where the equalized assessed valuation was previously at least 42% but less than 50%. The counties which had an equalized assessed valuation of less than 42% would no doubt have received multipliers which would have rendered their equalized assessed valuations at less than 50%. In both instances recomputation of the multipliers would have been required to comply with the law. Thus this court’s stay order did not in any conceivable manner prejudice those counties not in compliance with the pertinent provisions of the Revenue Act. The origin of any hardship resulting from the recomputation of the 1974 tax multipliers must be traced to the actions of those public officials who have continually refused to follow their statutory obligations. The majority urges plaintiffs to maintain their efforts in the trial court where the substantial likelihood exists that similar dilatory tactics may occur. There is no reason why this burden must be borne by plaintiffs after a decade of litigation. I would compel compliance with the law for the 1974 taxing year and succeeding years unless valid legislative action would warrant otherwise.