Guy Gattone, Oak Forest Taxpayer Advocate: Someone To Get To Know

OAK FOREST, IL — Are your Oak Forest property taxes too high? Then Guy Gattone is the man you might want to see.

He's the city's taxpayer advocate, holding down his third, four-year term to the elected office. That's right: You elected him to the office.

Oak Forest residents have been voting for a taxpayer watchdog since 1997, when the city made history by approving a paid position for someone who would be"preparing tax appeals, public tax-relief programs, advocating legislation for tax relief and reform, organizing taxpayer-education programs and workshops, and helping taxpayers and toll payers eliminate waste and fraud at every level of government,"as the measure said on the ballot. It was an idea drafted with the help of former Illinois governor Pat Quinn, who was the state's former treasurer at the time.

Gattone, who has lived in Oak Forest for 56 years, brings his skills from the Cook County Board of Review, where he worked for 18 years.

He recently spoke with Patch about his role, what motivates him and his advice for residents troubled by their tax bills. The interview is lightly edited for space and clarity.

Gattone:

This came up as an opening to help people in my neighborhood and nobody was running for this office, so I put my name in and I won. I've got a lot of experience working with the people of Oak Forest — I was a parks commissioner for 24 years, and my name was known at the time they voted me in. I had the experience to do the job.

I am retired now, and this job is part-time. I am doing this two days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday, and during the seasons when appeals are open at the board of review, I am here more often. I get real busy. People come in all the time.

About the role

I help them look up comparables, or houses that are similar to theirs in square footage and description. Every home has a different scenario, but I try and help them. We look for fairness and we try to be fair to people paying taxes. A person down the street with the same or similar home should not be paying less than you or should be paying an even amount, given the situation.

I had an incident where someone said "hey Guy my bill went up $1,200," and after, I discovered there was a divorce in the family and now the the assessor was saying that there was a new owner and eliminated the homeowner tax exemption. But there wasn't. I said that the bill was wrong and went back to the assessor and asked for a correction, and I saved this lady 1,200 bucks on her taxes.

One of the people I filed for last year was having problems. One of the things you can do is get a certified appraiser to appraise your house if you feel that you were overassessed. But a lady came to me, and I submitted her appeal, and her assessment went from $22,426 down to $18,507 — that is about a $3,900 decrease in assessed valuation, which is significant in your tax bill. She was very appreciative, and sent me a thank you note. "You’re truly a huge asset to the City of Oak Forest," she writes. I am saving that one.

A lot of my work has to do with seniors who didn't get homeowners exemptions or senior freezes or who forgot to fill out their form every year, so I help them with that. I enjoy that.

I also hold seminars here. I have a commissioner from the board of review come down when Oak Forest is open for appeals and have a seminar right in the council room. People are invited to meet the commissioner and talk about assessments, and at that time can submit to the board a complaint.

Gattone's success rate

I don't really keep track of the number of people who see me each year. About 300 or 350 maybe. My success rate is about 60 percent. A lot of times, people go directly to the assessor and he approves only about 20 percent. [My success rate] it's so high because I go to the board of review and I know what I am doing. (He laughed.) Because I worked there, I know exactly what they are looking for.

Advice to residents

I offer this every year, and it doesn’t cost anything. You can either lower it [your assessment] or leave it the same. They don’t ever increase your assessment. They can only leave it the same or decrease it. You can hire an attorney who will file for you, but you have to pay him. Here, it doesn’t cost anything to file year after year.

Final thoughts

I enjoy what I am doing. I like working with the people.

Gattone takes appointments and walk-ins from 9 a.m. to about 12 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Oak Forest's city hall at 15440 Central Avenue. He said that he will come back to the office to meet with residents, if the need arises. He can be reached at 708-687-4050.