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Pappas to share government transparency at Tax Conference in Dominican Republic

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas to share government transparency and social equity initiatives at real estate and tax conference in the Dominican Republic

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas will discuss how advancements in the Treasurer’s Office have increased transparency and efficiency while promoting social equity during a conference next week in the Dominican Republic.

The Inter-American Conference on Cadastre and Property Registry will bring together experts in the public and private sectors to discuss land registry systems and challenges governments face as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change.

#ConfCat21 will take place Nov. 2 – 4 in Santa Domingo. It is organized by the Dominican Property Registry National Administration, the National School of the Judiciary of the Dominican Republic, the Organization of American States and the World Bank.

Pappas’ presentation, “On the Frontier of the Property Tax System,” details changes made in the past two decades in her office that have improved efficiency, convenience and transparency while reducing costs to taxpayers.

Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas and American Arab Chamber of Commerce President Hasan Nijem organized a property tax review to return more than $39,000 to members of the Islamic Community Center of Illinois. Pappas said more than $79 million is owed in overpayments to Cook County taxpayers including to Arabs and Muslims.

The advancements have enabled the office to undertake studies on the property tax system and better assist property owners. Since the start of Pappas’ Black and Latino Houses Matter program in the early days of the pandemic, the Treasurer’s Office has returned more than $120 million in refunds to communities with majority Black and Latino populations.

“I welcome the invitation to speak and look forwarding to exchanging information about processes that benefit property owners, in addition to discussing the critical issues local governments face today,” Pappas said.

Pappas’ invitation is the most recent one extended by officials in other countries who are interested in learning about the progress made at the Cook County Treasurer’s Office. Earlier this month, she addressed a global forum in Seville, Spain, that was attended by officials from 19 countries.

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

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