The Peoria County Board of Review had few friends in the audience for the Peoria County Board meeting last week.
A pair of county board members said they would welcome an inquiry into the processes, the actions and the demeanor of the board of review.
Peoria County Board member Merle Widmer was on the side of the angry citizens saying he would be happy to lead a taxpayer revolt against the board of review.
When the public comment portion of the meeting got underway Thursday Craig Dodd, of Bartonville, kicked off the verbal assault saying he has protested his property taxes the past two years.
“Something is wrong ... How’s a small businessman supposed to absorb (large property tax increases) in this economy?”
Dodd said he will fight his property taxes all the way to the state.
He suggested the county board start putting money aside in the budget to reimburse property owners with interest when the state eventually finds the board of review is over-taxing them.
Board of review member Gary Shadid was not at the county board, but was the target of criticism following the meeting.
Shadid said those criticizing him by name apparently do not understand the process.
“By statute, the board of review consists of three members. Two members are affiliated with the political party that had the highest vote total in a county-wide contested race the previous election,” Shadid said.
“The past two elections resulted in two members being Republican and one member  a Democrat. All case decisions require the consent of at least two of the three members; thus, criticism of one member is nonsense and illustrates a misunderstanding of the process.”

Criticism
Joe Conley, 5020 N. Bell Court, told the county board he was concerned about the process the board of review uses.
“The fundamental issue is fairness ... In the past four years, the board (of review) has adopted a dictatorial attitude,” Conley said.
Brian Monge, a Peoria real estate agent, told the county board in recent years he has seen assessed values shoot up at a rate he termed “incredible.”
“There’s no perfect system ... With the current board (of review), they will tell you no change or very little change,” Monge said.
“I can show you case after case where I’ve gone before this board to no avail. I’m frustrated. I hope you take a look at the process, the board and their actions.”
County board members Widmer (District 11) and Bob Baietto (District 12), both representing North Peoria, said, following the public comments, that they would like to see an inquiry into the board of review.
“I think we need to know what subjectivity and objectivity is involved,” Baietto said.
He said a look at five years worth of information about assessments and board of review actions is warranted. 
“There is one thing I hear over and over and that is about how people are treated,” Baietto said.
Widmer said there have been past promises to investigate the board of review.
“Let me tell you, there has been no review,” he said.
“I’m very unhappy ... There’s a problem, a big problem. I’ll help start a taxpayer revolt.”      
County board member Pat Hidden (District 18) added, “Really, we’ve done nothing.”
Following the discussion, in the hallway outside the county board room, Shadid’s name was the one being raised as the main problem on the board of review. Shadid is running for city treasurer against current Peoria 5th District Councilman Pat Nichting.
Monge chuckled when asked if this showing of protest against the board of review was politically motivated.
“There’s nobody’s sign in my yard,” he said.
“This is about my livelihood. I’ve been fighting this for two years. There’s no politics involved.”

Shadid responds
Property tax protests are not a new phenomenon, Shadid said.
The quadrennial revaluation in 2003 spawned more than 4,300 property tax protests, he said, and no current member of the board of review was seated at that time.
In 2007, he said, the next quadrennial revaluation, about 3,100 protests were filed — a reduction of more than 27 percent.
Shadid said, in 2007, an executive session of the Peoria County Board was held to discuss the board of review. Details of that executive session have not yet been made public. But, changes in personnel were made. The current board of review was seated in June 2007. 
“Since that date, about 44 percent of all protests brought before the board of review were won by the taxpayer , and resulted in adjustments,” Shadid said.
Immediately upon being seated the current board of review held discussions with the Tax/EDC Committee of the Peoria County Board, the supervisor of assessments and the state’s attorney’s office, Shadid said. The result, he said, was the adoption of formal policies and procedures as well as standardized forms in order to provide methods of documenting board of review decisions. 
In addition, he said, all hearings are recorded in order to comply with statutes requiring minutes of hearings be maintained. Those minutes, he said, are available for public review.
The Tax/EDC committee, the state’s attorney’s office   and the current board of review adopted a code of conduct addressing conflicts of interest. The code prohibits the board of review from ruling on protests brought by members of the Peoria County Board, such as Widmer and Baietto who protested their taxes in 2007, Shadid said.
“The public has every right to criticize the board of review. The free press has the right to report those criticisms,” Shadid said. 
“The board of review has the responsibility of complying with the Illinois Statutes that define its mission to the taxpayers. The board of review members are forbidden to discuss cases on which it has ruled.”
Shadid added, “The Peoria County Board of Review is proud of having established a formal and transparent system to review property value complaints that is fair and equitable to all of Peoria County’s taxpayers – not just a few.”