Juanita Irizarry

Candidate Q&A

Why are you running? 

I’ve fought for fairness and stood up for everyday people my entire life. As a housing expert, non-profit leader, and lifelong devotee to justice, I have taken on billionaires, corrupt politicians, special interests, and won. 

I grew up in Humboldt Park and was raised in a household rooted in service. My parents turned their apartment into a community hub, tutoring neighborhood kids, teaching them how to garden, and sharing fresh produce with families in need. I know firsthand what it means to be displaced and feel like the system is working against you. My life experience as both a renter and homeowner in a gentrifying community and my career working to end homelessness, building affordable housing, and leading homeownership education have taught me that stable housing is a key component to strong, connected families and healthy communities.

Now, I want to bring that same community service mindset to the Board of Review. I will bring equity, transparency, and accountability to our broken system that, for too long, has served only the powerful few while leaving the many behind. I want to protect seniors, homeowners, and renters from unfair tax increases by explaining assessments and addressing systemic bias that has long overcharged communities of color, and support families navigating the appeals process through community workshops.  I will end backroom deals and hold commercial property to the same standards as everyone else. I’m running to bring fairness back to our property tax system. 

What skills or experience do you have that make you particularly suited to this position?

I’ve spent my career fighting for stable housing and strong communities. I’ve helped families stay in their homes, built new affordable homes, and taken on billionaires who tried to privatize Chicago’s lakefront.

In my work at the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation, Bickerdike Redevelopment Corporation, The Resurrection Project, and Latinos United (now the Latino Policy Forum), I have supported an array of housing issues –from remediating lead hazards from homes, to building affordable rental units and single family homes, to leading pre- and post-purchase homeownership training and counseling to fight against housing discrimination. 

As a grantmaker at The Chicago Community Trust, I directed funding toward communities in the areas of hunger, homelessness, affordable housing development, and homeownership counseling. In my role as executive director of Friends of the Parks, I led the production of the State of the Parks report and subsequent advocacy for equity. I fought for environmental justice, leading a successful lawsuit to shut down a pollution dump on the lakefront in a southeast-side community. Through my current independent consulting work with philanthropy, I have provided organizational development consulting to many non-profits addressing issues ranging from hunger and tenants' rights to early childhood education and immigration. I was appointed by Governor Pat Quinn to the Illinois Housing Task Force and the Governor’s Commission to End Hunger.

Outside of my professional roles, I have served in leadership positions on multiple grassroots groups, boards of directors, and advisory councils.  Much of it has focused on homelessness, affordable housing, and community development.

What does this office do well, and what needs fixing?

For far too long, the Board of Review commissioners have given large tax cuts to big corporations and billionaires, thus shifting the burden to make up the difference onto homeowners, renters, and seniors. When commissioners, like my opponent, are more interested in their billionaire and property tax lawyer donors than Cook County taxpayers, we see property taxes for average homeowners go up while Trump Tower gets a $48 million break.  A report from the Cook County Treasurer states that from 2021 to 2023, an estimated $2 billion burden was transferred to families from wealthy businesses, with Black and Latino neighborhoods seeing the highest property tax increases. We cannot continue to allow communities of color to carry this unfair property tax burden. Billionaires and corporations must pay their fair share. I am committed to ending the corruption that’s plagued the Board of Review for far too long. 

The Board of Review should be a check on assessment accuracy and fairness, not a rubber stamp for the ultra-wealthy. 

What is the most pressing issue facing your constituents and how do you plan on addressing it? 

The most pressing issue is rising property taxes for homeowners and renters because of a rigged property tax system that puts billionaires first. To fix the rigged property tax system, I will fight to make billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share, thus taking the burden off homeowners and renters. I will end backroom deals, hold commercial property to the same standards as everyone else, and require transparency by publishing all Board of Review decisions online for public review. This fix will help with other issues like protecting seniors, homeowners, and renters from unfair tax increases, strengthening ethics rules, expanding oversight through the Office of the Inspector General, modernizing the system to improve efficiency, and enforcing strict conflict-of-interest standards to prevent commissioners from accepting campaign contributions from tax appeal lawyers and entities that appear before them.

Is there a major policy initiative or financial issue you will look to tackle in the next year? 

I will push for consistent valuation standards across districts and insist that assessment data available from the Assessor’s office be fully integrated into the Board of Review analysis process. I will push for equitable tax policies that reduce the disproportionate impact on Latino and Black communities identified in the Cook County Treasurer’s report, and I will fight to strengthen community stability everywhere. This includes working with the Assessor’s office and the Illinois General Assembly to change laws and valuation approaches to fight displacement in gentrifying communities. Further, the county’s finances will be bolstered immediately if we make corporations pay their fair share of property taxes.  

If you are elected, what would the end of a successful four-year term look like for you?    

A successful four-year term would mean significantly lower costs for homeowners and renters, and that families across Cook County can successfully navigate the property tax system and get treated fairly. The office would have a robust community workshop program that includes free clinics, especially in under-resourced neighborhoods. Anyone who needs language services or legal representation for an appeal will have access to both at our clinics. The Board of Review would finally be transparent to the people it serves, the taxpayers. I would bring transparency and accountability by making all appeal decisions publicly available and by implementing stronger ethics policies that finally end the pay-to-play politics that have plagued the office for decades. 

What specific steps would you take to ensure your office is accessible and responsive?

The property tax system is confusing and overwhelming. I will support families in navigating property tax appeals by increasing community workshops and free clinics, with an emphasis on communities with the least access, including language support and access to attorneys. I will also work with my colleagues across the city and county to meet homeowners where they are, either through virtual office hours or in community forums. Government services work best when people trust the people who implement them. I plan to work very hard to build trust and transparency in the office.