Property assessments double for 37,000 homes in Chicago’s historically neglected neighborhoods amid fresh investor interest.
Alex Nitkin
Alex Nitkin is a government finance and accountability reporter conducting investigations on systemic problems and the public policies that are meant to fix them in Chicago, Cook County and Illinois government. Before joining Illinois Answers, he worked as a reporter and editor for The Daily Line covering Cook County and Chicago government. He previously worked at The Real Deal Chicago, where he covered local real estate news, and DNAinfo Chicago, where he worked as a breaking news reporter and then as a neighborhood reporter covering the city's Northwest Side. A New York native who grew up in Connecticut, Alex graduated Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism with a bachelor’s degree.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
‘Granny flats’ are illegal to build in most of Chicago —and political gridlock is keeping it that way.
A three-year pilot program that legalized accessory dwelling units or “granny flats” in some areas of the city opened up more housing options in neighborhoods where cheap apartments have become increasingly rare. But the burst of construction seen so far is a pittance compared to the more than 100,000 affordable units experts say it would take to satisfy demand.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
Amid Budget Tensions, City Council Members Push to Bring Some Sunshine to City Spending
Other big city governments have robust watchdogs, paid for by taxpayers, to analyze city budgets and financial deals. The City Council’s anemic office could use some brawn, some alderpeople argue.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Quiet Use of Bonuses for City Council Aides on the Rise
Alderpeople defend the practice, saying the aides deserve the extra money for their hard work, but critics decry the process as arbitrary.
Posted inInvestigations
Cook County Assessor Fixes Hundreds of Misclassified Properties Following Illinois Answers-Tribune Investigation
The corrections have put nearly half a billion dollars in taxable real estate value back on the rolls.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
Chicago is Debating Lowering its Speed Limit. Other Cities Aren’t Waiting.
New York, Seattle, Boston and other cities have long since lowered their speed limits — and gotten results, data shows.
Posted inInvestigating Responses
A New City Tree Trim Strategy Produces Big Results. Not Everyone Is On Board.
City workers are pruning trees more than twice as quickly after an overhaul that gives alderpeople less power to control services.
Posted inInvestigations
Luxury Home or Vacant Lot? Cook County Assessor Misclassifies Hundreds of Properties, Missing $444M in One Year Alone
An investigation by Illinois Answers Project and the Chicago Tribune found Assessor Fritz Kaegi’s office missed critical data from at least 620 properties in 2023, with big implications for those taxpayers.
Posted inInvestigations
How We Reported on Cook County Assessment Errors
Reporters from Illinois Answers Project and the Chicago Tribune collected and analyzed thousands of points of data to track down where the Cook County assessor misclassified hundreds of properties.
Posted inGovernment Finance & Accountability
Johnson Administration Faces Credibility Crunch Over a Key Plank of $1.25B Bond Plan
Officials say they’ll let enough special taxing districts expire to generate the money needed to pay back the debt. Some analysts are skeptical.
