Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program Review

Webinar Overview: Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program Review

On March 24, 2022, The Preservation Compact and Community Investment Corporation hosted a webinar on the new Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program (AHSAP.)

Presenters included Jerry Brown of Siegel & Callahan P.C. and Christina Lynch, Brian Sibila, and Vincent Waller from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

At this webinar, presenters:

Provided an overview of the program and outlined the benefits it provides for multifamily building owners;
Presented an in-depth walkthrough of the application process; and
Answered a wide variety of questions from multifamily property owners.

Applications are due by March 31, 2022 in order to receive the benefit for 2022. Applications will be accepted after the deadline, but the Assessor’s Office cannot guarantee that they will be processed in time to be reflected on your 2022 tax bill.

Interested in learning more about the program and how to apply? A recording of the webinar, presenter slides, and other resources are available below.

Webinar Recording

Presentation Slides

Click here for slides from CIC, The Preservation Compact, and Jerry Brown.

Click here for slides from the program overview presentation by Christina Lynch and Brian Sibila from the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

Click here for slides from the application walkthrough presentation by Vincent Waller from the Cook County Assessor’s Office

Agenda

Resources & Additional Information

Learn more about this program:

Cook County Assessor’s Office AHSAP page
Program summary table
Online AHSAP application
Frequently Asked Questions
Cook County Assessor’s Office AHSAP webinar recordings
- Class 9 Properties Webinar (recording and slides)
- In-Service Affordable Properties Webinar (recording and slides)
- Prospective Affordable Housing Webinar (recording and slides)
- Low Affordability Communities Webinar (recording and slides)
Background on the development of AHSAP
Legislative language

Tiers and Eligibility:

Tiers 1 and 2 of AHSAP are available by-right anywhere in Cook County
- Tier 3 is available for projects located in:
  - The City of Chicago downtown zones (illustrated on this map) and
  - Cook County communities that have 40% or less affordable housing share as determined by IHDA (refer to this list.)

Do you have property-specific questions? Need help with your application?

Email assessor.affordablehousing@cookcountyil.gov and include the Project Name and 14 digit PIN(s) associated with your application.

Panelists

Jerry Brown is an attorney at Siegel & Callahan, P.C. where he practices property tax appeals.

Jerry is a member of the Cook County Bar Association (Board Member, 2015-present), Southside Builders Association (Board Member), American Constitution Society (Board Member), AFCOM, and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce Government Relations Committee. Jerry serves as General Counsel for 100 Black Men and is a volunteer for the Edward J. Lewis II Lawyers in the Classroom program. He is also a member of the Illinois Supreme Court Committee on Character and Fitness (2015-present), and is a 2021 recipient of the Chicago Defender’s Men of Excellence Award.

Jerry earned his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Chicago and his Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota School of Law. Jerry is also an Adjunct Professor at UIC Law School, where he teaches Remedies, Federal Courts, Moot Court and Legal Drafting

Vincent Waller is the Director of Policy at the Cook County Assessor’s office, where he has overseen the implementation of the enabling legislation for the Affordable Housing Special Assessment program.

Vincent is in his 14th year as an attorney, and has a wide variety of legal experience in both the public and private sector, including property tax, income tax, labor and employment law, environmental law, consent decree compliance, FOIA compliance, bankruptcy, building and zoning law, landlord tenant, and both civil and criminal litigation.

Vincent holds his law degree from Chicago Kent College of Law, where he also received his LLM in Taxation. Vince has been an active member of various CBA committees over the years, in various roles, and currently is part of the Real Estate Taxation committee at the CBA.

Brian Sibila has been a manager of commercial valuations with the Cook County Assessor’s Office since 2020.

Prior to joining the CCAO, Brian spent nearly 20 years working as a commercial real estate professional. He has experience in all areas of real estate practice including brokerage, property management, financial analysis and property valuations. Brian has significant experience working with distressed properties within Cook County and Chicagoland in general, and has served as a court appointed receiver in commercial foreclosure cases.

Additionally, he has a great deal of experience relating to gas stations and convenience stores, having worked on large portfolio sales and provided valuations and financial advisory services for that industry throughout the country. Brian is a graduate of the University of Michigan.

Christina Lynch is the Director of Legal for the Cook County Assessor’s Office. In this role, Christina focuses the scope of her work on Incentives, Exempt and Omitted Properties and FOIA matters.

She also serves as its Ethics Officer. In the past, Christina also served as labor counsel for the Assessor, interfacing with representatives of AFSCME Local 3835, and representing the office in progressive discipline matters and arbitrations. Immediately prior to joining the Cook County Assessor’s Office in 2018, Christina served as Ethics Manager and Staff Attorney to Cook County Clerk David Orr in the Elections Department.

Christina also has significant experience in the private sector. Before she began working for the County she represented buyers and sellers in residential real estate transactions. Christina received her B.A. from Miami University in Oxford, OH, and her J.D. and Certificate in Criminal Law from the DePaul University College of Law in Chicago, IL.