AREAS OF PRACTICE

Property Tax Assessment

EXPERTISE

• Filing of tax appeals for commercial, industrial, and residential taxpayers before the assessor, board of review, and state Property Tax Appeal Board, in all Illinois counties, except for Cook and the suburban counties.
• Representation of units of local governments before the board of review and state Property Tax Appeal Board in all Illinois counties, except for Cook and the suburban counties.

COURT ADMISSIONS

United States Supreme Court
United States Tax Court
United States District Court, C.D. Illinois

ARTICLES

Practice and Procedure Before the Property Tax Appeal Board, published as Chapter 6 in the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education’s Real Estate Taxation practice handbook (author of 1997, 2001, & 2005 editions & co-author of 2016 edition).

Repealed Personal Property Tax Has Real Consequences, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, April 26, 2000.

Illinois’s Open Space Statute: An Administrative Review of the “Country Club Tax Relief Act”, Journal of Property Tax Management (1991); later cited in Illini Country Club v. Property Tax Appeal Board, 635 N.E.2d 1347, 263 Ill.App.3d 410, 200 Ill.Dec.764 (1994).

The Impact of Rule 23 on Administrative Law: One Agency’s Perspective, Illinois Bar Journal, Vol. 87:8 (1999).

EDUCATION

J.D. from Southern Illinois University School of Law, 1982
B.A. in history from Illinois College, with honors, 1979

BAR ADMISSIONS

Illinois, 1982

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Illinois State Bar Association
International Association of Assessing Officers

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

Jim was executive director of the state Property Tax Appeal Board from 1994 to 2006. He oversaw the expansion of the board’s jurisdiction to Cook County for the first time in 1995 as a result of P.A. 89-126.

Jim has held several leadership positions with the Illinois State Bar Association, including chair of the State & Local Taxation Section Council. He was also elected to serve two terms as a member of Assembly, the policy making body of the association.

INTERESTS

Jim is currently Vice President of The Sister Cities Association of Springfield, Illinois, a local chapter of Sister Cities International. SCI is a non-profit, citizen diplomacy group promoting mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation between international cities. The City of Springfield has three sister city relationships - Ashikaga, Japan; San Pedro de los Colonias, Mexico; and Jining City, China.