We write again to address a misleading Jan. 18 editorial “Cook County property tax fiasco is costing school districts and thus taxpayers a fortune.” In it, the Tribune Editorial Board accuses Tyler Technologies’ software implementation of being at “the root of the problems,” and it writes that school districts “surely have a case” against Tyler “for reimbursement.” While we recognize that these statements represent nothing more than the board’s opinion, they are based on incomplete facts and a biased narrative, making them at least irresponsible. They are also inflammatory.
As we have tried to explain to Tribune reporters and in other public forums, our work does not exist in a vacuum. We depend upon cooperation and collaboration from agency stakeholders, as well as timely and consistent information and guidance from those partners. On multiple occasions, including just before a planned go-live in May and again just before handing over distributions for signoff in mid-December, we were surprised by new project requirements and critical missing data, thus adding work and therefore time. In response to these types of surprises, Tyler did not attempt to revise its obligations but instead surged resources, which have been working around the clock for months at no additional cost to the county.
For reasons we do not understand, a complete and fair picture has not been presented to the public. Indeed, when Tyler is asked for comment, any response we provide is marginalized at best, in service of an overriding narrative that Tyler is to blame. More recently, Tyler has not been given an opportunity to comment at all.
In short, the facts do not support the editorial board’s wildly overbroad conclusions. And it should go without saying that the board is not in a position to provide legal advice.
Taking the bold step of providing that advice anyway, without even nearly complete facts, fundamentally conflicts with objective journalism.
— Abigail Diaz, chief administrative officer, Tyler Technologies, Inc., Plano, Texas
Cook County property taxes
The editorial on Cook County’s property tax fiasco is a reminder that homeowners in Chicago’s South and West Side neighborhoods still face a crisis as a result of the latest round of tax assessments. Dramatic property tax spikes in the city’s poorest neighborhoods threaten to force families that have been the backbone of their communities out of the homes they have owned for decades. Technical difficulties with the system during the most recent tax cycle also delayed bills and made finding payment options difficult for already-struggling families.
The current property tax system is failing Cook County’s working-class and lower-income homeowners. Immediate legislative and administrative action is needed to protect these householders.
— Sharon Stolz, Chicago
Need for biometrics law
When Cook County’s previous state’s attorney adopted policies the Tribune Editorial Board considered too lenient, the board regularly spoke about the need to enforce the law without exception to ensure public safety. But there is one law the editorial board believes should be altered because it is regularly violated — Illinois’ Biometric Information Protection Act, or BIPA. In a recent editorial (“Illinois’ biometric privacy law is the gift that keeps on giving — to trial lawyers,” Jan. 19), the editorial board argues for leniency for corporations that regularly violate the law.
The legislature passed BIPA in 2008 as policymakers saw the way in which corporations — especially powerful technology companies — were monetizing our biometric information such as fingerprints, retinal scans and other unique identifiers that cannot be changed. The law provides a simple process — which the Tribune Editorial Board now calls “burdensome” — requiring those wishing to collect and use our personal data to give notice and obtain consent before doing so.
Over the past decade, several companies in Illinois failed to comply with the law. Other companies have purchased equipment that captures biometric information — such as fingerprint scans — and ignored the law. Rather than point to those that violate the law and call for compliance, the editorial board calls for the edifice of BIPA to be destroyed. This is akin to calling for the end of all traffic safety laws because people are getting ticketed frequently.
The editorial also includes the latest canard against BIPA — that it keeps large data centers from being built in Illinois. This argument is one of willful, feigned ignorance. First, data centers already are being built in the state — with BIPA in effect. Second, BIPA requires a third party to inform someone if they are collecting and sharing biometric information. If the data centers are not engaged in that collection, they are not in violation of BIPA.
It is troubling that the editorial board labels BIPA a “monster.” The real issue is not that Illinois has provided these protections for our residents; the real difficulty is that other states — and the federal government — have not. Indeed, other states have been fighting for the protection we have under BIPA, only to be stymied by intense lobbying by big tech firms that want to monetize our personal information.
Now is the time to support BIPA, not abandon its protections.
— Edwin C. Yohnka, director of communications and public policy, ACLU of Illinois
Focus on energy efficiency
The Tribune Editorial Board got it right — there is an urgency to deal with Illinois’ power (“Ready or not, the data centers are coming. We must keep our electric bills from soaring,” Jan. 11). Thankfully, the state legislature and Gov. JB Pritzker came in not just with a ray of light, but a solar-powered flood light to guide this path forward.
On Jan. 8, Pritzker signed the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act (CRGA) into law. CRGA requires transparency, accountability and planning on the part of utility companies. Additionally, it incentivizes consumers, businesses and building owners to improve their existing energy efficiency — which translates to getting paid to pay less.
Data centers are energy hogs. We can most swiftly address this additional energy demand by reducing the demand of our homes and existing businesses. I founded and run the sustainability consulting practice HUSARCH. We have been supporting technical assistance for utility rebates for the last eight years, and it has been inspiring to see the quantity and quality of these programs flourish over this time.
CRGA develops a consolidated funding source called the Energy Transition Assistance Fund, which will award up to $180 million annually for job training and energy efficiency grant programs. CRGA also implements regulatory requirements that limit the spiral of increasing rates that we’ve been seeing.
While we are unlikely to stop the artificial intelligence and data center wave at this point, I am grateful we live in a state that is addressing these issues head on and providing the opportunities for us all to get involved in this massive industry transition.
— Chyanne Husar, founder and CEO, HUSARCH, and board vice chair, Illinois Green Alliance
Costly vision for Route 120
We’re not sure if many Tribune readers know about a project being designed by the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) for improving traffic flow on Illinois Route 120 in northern Illinois, in the Grayslake area especially. It’s a really big project as now conceived — big as in $2 billion.
We learned about this project only recently and are stunned by its projected cost, not to mention the tremendous impact on the local environment. We’ve also learned that the needed traffic improvements could well be achieved with less costly alternatives, such as the strategic adding of turn lanes, synchronized traffic lights, and some carefully planned overpasses and underpasses at selected railroad crossings.
IDOT says the project’s overwhelming dimensions are data-driven. We’d like to see that data.
We know from experience that numbers can be used to prove anything. IDOT’s Route 120 bypass concept would negatively impact quality of life and the local environment and raise havoc with the state’s financial status. In that sense, IDOT’s “grand” vision fails to pass muster and deserves to be recast into real improvements at more modest costs.
— Larry Friedrichs and Anna Pieta, executive directors and founding members, Friends of Indian Creek Wetlands
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