Justice Neville responds to NBC5 story on allegedly improper homeowner's exemptions; Assessor responds to Justice Neville

At this morning's slatemaking meeting, some Cook County Democratic Committeemen were interested in Justice P. Scott Neville, Jr.'s response to the recent story aired by NBC5 concerning a homeowner's exemption being granted on his late mother's property, where he does not live, but which was quitclaimed to him in 2004, according to the NBC5 story.

Everyone in Cook County is entitled to a homeowner's exemption on the home where they actually live.

This week's NBC5 story is not the first time that allegations have been made about prominent persons claiming homeowner's exemptions on more than one property.

Justice Neville told the committeemen there were "no irregularities." In fact, he told the group, the Cook County Assessor's Office reported to his committee just last night that its investigation showed no irregularities concerning exemptions on the property. Pressed for more information by another questioner, Justice Neville said he did not think he could expand on what the Assessor's Office said.

What did the Assessor's Office say?

Well, of course, no one told me, the blogger in the back of the spacious room at the IBEW Local 134 Headquarters on S. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

So I reached out to Deputy Assessor and Chief Communications Officer Scott Smith who advised in an email as follows:

With the approval of the Local Records Commission, various records, including Homeowners’ Exemption applications from the year 2000, were destroyed by the Assessor’s Office. Our electronic records indicate whether a property received a homeowner’s exemption, but they do not reflect the name of the applicant. Therefore, we do not have the name of the person who filed for the exemption on this property in 2000. [Justice Neville's] name is on the deed so he’s ultimately responsible for repayment of the erroneous exemption and has been in contact with our office about doing so.

I did not get the chance to hear all the Supreme Court candidates' presentations, but according to the schedule I saw, in addition to Justice Neville, first-time candidate Daniel Epstein and Appellate Court Justices Cynthia Cobbs, Shelly Harris, Nathaniel Howse, Margaret McBride, and Jesse Reyes all made their pleas for the support of the Democratic Party.

The Party's choice remains in limbo this evening. While Justice Neville did command a majority of the committeemen's weighted vote on the Party's Supreme Court Subcommittee, the margin was slim, according to one committeeman with whom I spoke. The Party's final choice in this matter will be made tomorrow.