Excerpts from Chicago.cbslocal.com:
Chicago aldermen gave preliminary approval to an ordinance that would provide a property tax break to the spouses of police officers, firefighters, and paramedics who die in the line of duty. The measure would allow those spouses to apply for a waiver of the city’s portion of their property tax bill for as long as they remain unmarried, and stay in the home where they lived with their wife or husband. Chicago’s share of property tax bills usually makes up 20% to 25% of the overall amount due. The Illinois legislature authorized the tax breaks in a 2012 state law that allows local and county governments to offer a tax abatement to the families of fallen police officers, firefighters, and paramedics.
Currently eight families qualify for the break, which will begin with 2019 property tax bills coming due next year. The estimated cost to the city would be $10,000 to $15,000 a year.
The eligible families include those of:
- CPD Cmdr. Paul Bauer, who was killed by a gunman outside the Thompson Center last year;
- CFD Capt. Herbie Johnson, who was killed by a “flashover” of flames while fighting a fire in Gage Park in 2012;
- CPD Officer Eduardo Marmolejo and CPD Officer Conrad Gary, who were killed when they were struck by a train while responding to a call of shots fired last year;
- CPD Officer Samuel Jimenez, who was killed while responding to a shooting at Mercy Hospital last year;
- CPD Officer Michael Flisk, who was shot and killed while investigating a crime scene in 2010;
- Firefighter Corey Ankum, who died when the roof and wall of a burning abandoned building fell on him in 2010;
- and Firefighter Daniel Capuano, who died after falling down an open and unmarked elevator shaft while battling a warehouse fire in 2015.
The Cook County Board of Review would process the family’s applications for the tax breaks. The measure now goes to the full city council for a vote next week.
