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roperty tax lawyers, building owners, and other real estate players are backing Cook County Board of Review Commissioner Larry Rogers Jr. in his reelection campaign this November. This support comes despite Rogers being a known critic of Assessor Fritz Kaegi. The bulk of real estate industry donations to Rogers' campaign came from property tax attorneys and appraisers, with some Chicago-area brokers also contributing.

    The Neighborhood Building Owners Alliance PAC, an interest group representing local building owners, gave $2,500 to Rogers' reelection campaign. Aron Bornstein, head of the NBOA PAC, said their support for Rogers is due to a desire to maintain the independence of the Board of Review as an appellate body that taxpayers use to appeal assessed values and property tax bills.

    Rogers' opponent, Libertarian candidate Nico Tsatsoulis, has not reported any donations and views politics as being too focused on money. Like Rogers, Tsatsoulis is against Kaegi's approach to his role as Cook County Assessor but believes that Rogers is part of the "broken system" and should be replaced.

    The NBOA also endorsed candidates in nine of the 10 districts where candidates are running for Chicago School Board, with a focus on centrist, moderate individuals who will address property taxes and spending. In the presidential race, Illinois real estate leaned heavily toward Vice President Kamala Harris but chose to hedge their bets by donating to both Harris' campaign and former president Donald Trump's.

    Rogers plans to work hard to get Kaegi out of office if reelected and has significant personal resources, having loaned himself $850,000 this year. His issues of focus include increasing awareness of the appeals process among homeowners in the 3rd District and providing relief to business owners hit by inaccurate valuations of commercial properties.

    Rogers also wants to broaden his authority at the agency to affect value beyond comparing assessed values to comparable homes in the area. Tsatsoulis, on the other hand, is pushing for a 1 percent cap on the property tax rate and advocating for a relationship between property values and underlying taxes.