$200K jolt awaits buyer of Rezko home
WILMETTE | Home on auction block carries hefty back-tax burden
A property tax bill of more than $200,000.
That's the added cost that awaits whoever comes out on top in next month's auction of the foreclosed Wilmette mansion of convicted influence-peddler Tony Rezko.
Records show Rezko stopped paying real estate taxes on the 8,400-square-foot mansion more than four years ago.
He owes a total of $140,409.86 in back property taxes, plus $69,402.24 in interest.
The new owner will have to pay that, says Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas.
Rezko stopped paying the taxes around the same time he stopped paying the mortgage on the $5.9 million home, which led Bank of America to foreclose on the property. It goes on the auction block Aug. 10.
Rezko is the onetime top campaign fund-raiser for then-Sen. Barack Obama and former Gov. Rod Blagojevich. Rezko was convicted last summer of wide-ranging corruption linked to his influence in the Blagojevich administration. He is now in prison, awaiting sentencing.
Tim Novak