Commissioner John Fritchey owes over $24,000 for property taxes

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County records show Fritchey and his wife didn’t pay the property-tax bills due last April 1 and Dec. 1 for their Lincoln Park home. | Jean Lachat~Sun-Times

Updated: July 31, 2011 12:17AM

A s an elected government official, Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey has a say in deciding how much county residents have to pay in property taxes and in how that money gets spent.

As a private citizen and homeowner, though, Fritchey and his estranged wife haven’t been paying their share, rec­ords and interviews show.

John and Karen Fritchey owe more than $24,000 for unpaid property taxes and late penalties on their home in Lincoln Park. County records show they didn’t pay their property-tax bill that was due Dec. 1. With penalties, that now amounts to $13,051.03. Nor have they paid property taxes that were due April 1. For that, they owe $11,684.99.

Total owed: $24,736.02.

In addition, Wells Fargo Bank sued the Fritcheys in February, seeking to foreclose on their house, saying said they defaulted on their $435,000 mortgage on the house on Altgeld near Ashland. Wells Fargo said in the suit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, that the Fritcheys have been in default on their mortgage since last Aug. 1 and still owe more than $411,000.

Fritchey, a lawyer, makes $85,000 a year as a member of the Cook County Board.

He says his property-tax and foreclosure troubles are the result of his splitting up with his wife and their pending divorce, but says the late bills will be paid.

“The reality is after 18 years of marriage, my wife and I split up,” Fritchey says. “Concurrent with our separation, I moved out of our home in October 2009. The property taxes were current through March 2010.”

Asked why they haven’t been paid after that, Fritchey says that was his wife’s decision.

“My wife acted upon advice from her attorney and ceased payment on the property taxes, as well as the mortgage,” he says.

“While I questioned the advice from her lawyer, I have no choice but to accept the decisions she made. Divorce brings a number of hardships. These are among them.”

Karen Fritchey — a niece of former Ald. William Banks (36th) — couldn’t be reached for comment.

The county commissioner says, “Even though I haven’t been living in the house for a year and a half, obviously the taxes are still the responsibility of my wife and myself.”

He says their house is now under contract, and the taxes will be paid when the sale is completed.

“They will be paid in full at the closing of the house, which is scheduled to take place in approximately 60 days,” Fritchey says.

Fritchey — who has written about his financial situation on his Facebook page — says he doesn’t think that not paying his property taxes is a matter of public interest and worth writing about.

He says he doesn’t want people to think his handling of his own finances reflects his ability to handle those of the public, and he thinks people will make that same distinction.

“I’m proud of my record of public service over the last 15 years — I’m not proud of recent events in my private life,” he says. “While I’m trying to understand the public interest in unfortunate private circumstances, I think everybody understands there’s no relationship between the two.”

And he adds this: “The people of Cook County can rest assured that none of my personal issues are going to, in any way, dampen my resolve to work for a more transparent Cook County government.”