With the personal property tax on individuals recently eliminated and lawmakers needing to make up the difference, the Illinois Senate started an investigation of the Cook County Assessor’s Office. At the discretion of county assessor P.J. Cullerton, property taxes had been reduced for several buildings, including Marina City, Merchandise Mart, and Prudential Building. Cullerton said the owners of these properties had shown they could not afford higher taxes. However, the exact reasons were contained in confidential files that could not be made public, said Cullerton, because they included audits and income tax returns. (Left) Cullerton (right) was a Chicago alderman from 1935 to 1958. He is seen here in 1954.

Benjamin Adamowski, a former state legislator who was running for assessor that year, demanded the confidential files be opened to show why some buildings enjoyed a tax break. “The fact that the assessor’s office admits to such files increases my suspicion that there is hanky panky,” said Adamowski. “If a homeowner went into that office and told them he couldn’t pay his taxes because he had a lot of medical expenses they would throw him out the window.” (Right) Adamowski (center) in 1956 when he was a candidate for Illinois Attorney General.

Deputy assessor Russell Johnson responded, “They come in here with a certified audit and an income tax return and show us how much they’re losing. Then we make an economic determination. If we didn’t give them an adjustment they wouldn’t be able to pay their taxes and we would have to go to court and sue them.”

Johnson said assessments on the buildings in question were based on condition, depreciation, and rental income. A “condition factor” that normally would have been 87 percent for Marina City was instead 55 percent. However, the biggest adjustment was for Brunswick Building, 69 West Washington Street, now the location of the Cook County Administration Building. Its usual condition factor was 88 percent but on request it had been lowered to 30 percent.