James Houlihan

James Houlihan is an American politician who served as Cook County assessor from 1997 to 2010 and as an Illinois state representative from 1973 to 1979.

Preceded byThomas Hynes

Succeeded byJoseph Berrios

Preceded byJohn B. Brandt/Howard W. Carroll

Succeeded byDaniel P. O'Brien

Quick facts Cook County Assessor, Preceded by ...

James Houlihan
Houlihan, circa 1977

Cook County Assessor
In office 1997 – December 6, 2010
Preceded by	Thomas Hynes
Succeeded by	Joseph Berrios
Illinois State Representative
In office 1973–1979 Serving with Robert L. Thompson (1973–1975) Jesse White (1975–1979)
Preceded by	John B. Brandt/Howard W. Carroll
Succeeded by	Daniel P. O'Brien

Personal details
Born	1942 or 1943
Party	Democratic

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Early life

Houlihan was born in 1942 or 1943.^[1]^[2] Houlihan was born and raised in the 19th ward on Chicago's far southwest side.^[3]

Career

Houlihan was a protégé of Thomas Hynes, the Cook County assessor and 19th Ward political boss.^[3]

In the 1970s, Houlihan served as an independent-minded Illinois state representative from a district on Chicago's northern lakefront. He had ties to prominent lakefront liberals.^[3]^[4] He was elected in 1972 and reelected in 1974, but was defeated in the 1978 Democratic primary.^[3]

Houlihan later served as a senior aide to Chicago mayor Harold Washington.^[3]^[4] He subsequently became a deputy assessor in Thomas Hynes's office as Cook County assessor.^[3]

Cook County Assessor

In March 1997, Thomas Hynes resigned after 18 years as Cook County assessor. The Cook County Board of Commissioners appointed Houlihan to fill the vacancy, with Hynes supporting the appointment.^[3]^[5] Houlihan was later elected in 1998 and reelected in 2002 and 2006. He did not seek reelection in 2010.^[6]

At the time Houlihan took office, residential properties in Cook County were undervalued.^[5] Rather than correcting the assessments, a step that would have increased taxes for many homeowners and risked political opposition, his office kept residential assessments artificially low and also began reducing rates for commercial and industrial properties.^[5] According to a later investigation by the Chicago Tribune, the resulting distortion of residential values left the county's property tax system severely miscalibrated and may have conflicted with the Constitution of Illinois.^[5]

During his tenure, Houlihan's office was reported to have disregarded legal requirements and operated outside professional assessment standards.^[5]

Houlihan also had a political rivalry with Cook County Board of Review member Joseph Berrios.^[3] In 2006, he privately supported Brendan Houlihan, who was not related to him, in a successful challenge to Maureen Murphy for the 1st district seat on the Cook County Board of Review. Murphy had been an ally of Berrios on the board.^[3]

In 2007, Houlihan criticized Michael Madigan's proposal to cap property tax assessments. He argued that, compared with stalled legislation he supported, Madigan's bill would save owners of Chicago Loop skyscrapers represented by Madigan's law firm hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes.^[7]

In 2010, Houlihan accused Joseph Berrios and Michael Madigan of withholding information from taxpayers that could affect the November general election.^[8]

That same year, Houlihan said he was considering a campaign for mayor of Chicago in the 2011 Chicago mayoral election.^[1]^[2]^[9] He ultimately did not enter the race.

Later career

After leaving office, Houlihan became a state lobbyist.^[5]

He also served on the Commission on Chicago Landmarks.^[10] His tenure on the commission ended in 2019.^[11]