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SYCAMORE – The Kingston Township assessor accused of forging documents to slash the property assessment for one of her sons appeared in court for the first time Wednesday without a lawyer.
Jennifer D. Cleveland, 49, of the 34700 block of Glidden Road, Kingston, is charged with forgery, official misconduct and failure of a local assessment officer to perform duties. DeKalb County Chief Judge Robbin Stuckert advised Cleveland that if convicted of either forgery or official misconduct, she could face two to five years in prison, and that any prison sentence would be followed by a year of parole.
“These are serious charges that have potential prison sentences,” Stuckert said. “Do you still wish to represent yourself?”
“I guess I’ll hire an attorney,” Cleveland said. “I just thought this was something I could take care of today.”
Illinois State Police allege in court records that on Aug. 25, Cleveland filed a request to reduce the assessed value of “her son’s newly bought property” in the 8700 block of South Rood Road in Kingston, and also filed two requests to reduce the assessed value of the property because of destruction to the property.
Police said Cleveland signed the former property owner’s name on the documents, which were filed Sept. 21 and Oct. 23, according to the records.
Cleveland first was elected Kingston Township assessor in April 2013, running unopposed. She was re-elected in April, again without an opponent. She posted $200 bail Nov. 21, records show. If convicted of a felony, she would be ineligible to hold office under Illinois law.
Township trustees could not be reached for comment.
Robin Brunschon, chief county tax assessor for DeKalb County, said Cleveland properly filed the initial assessment value paperwork, but her office noticed the documents required to reduce the property value because of destruction on the property were missing.
Brunschon said she followed up with the village of Kingston and its fire department and found no building permits had been issued for the property, and no destruction had been reported there, leading her staff to ask Cleveland to send the paperwork. Once they received it, Brunschon said she turned over the matter to the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office.
“I always ask questions,” Brunschon said. “We’re always looking to make sure things are done the right way.”
Brunschon said Cleveland lowered the assessments on many properties – including her own – but the Rood Road situation was the only one that ran afoul of the law.
“If she’s done things, it’s never been like these two situations,” Brunschon said.
A lengthy comment from Cleveland’s Facebook account on an earlier Daily Chronicle story Nov. 21 included an admission that Cleveland had lowered the assessed value of the Rood Road property.
“I know we are all paying high taxes and I do not believe it is right either,” the comment read. “I help people the best I can. I made a very bad choice and have brought more embarrassment to my family.”
Cleveland declined to comment after Wednesday’s court hearing.
According to the county’s property value site, Compass, the three-quarter-acre Rood Road property was sold to Cleveland’s son, Tanner R. Ruchti-Cleveland, and his wife, Lauryn A. Cleveland, on Sept. 1 for $295,000.
Properties in Illinois generally are assessed at a third of their “fair cash value,” and the property was assessed at $87,698 in 2016, records show. For 2017, the assessed value was reduced more than 21 percent to $68,926, records show.
Property tax extensions and rates for the 2017 property tax year have yet to be computed, but such an assessment reduction could result in a more than $1,500 decrease in property tax liability from the more than $8,150 in property taxes paid for the property for 2016.
The comment from Jennifer Cleveland’s Facebook account said that her son didn’t know about what she’d done and she never had done anything like that before.
Jennifer Cleveland also oversaw a reduction in her own property value, records show.
The 34-acre property owned by Jennifer Cleveland and her husband, William, was assessed at $92,148 in 2016, and the assessment was reduced to $89,953 this year, according to Compass. Specifically, the house’s assessed value was reduced more than $3,000, from $68,878 to $65,872.
The Facebook comment from Cleveland’s account said that Brunschon had advised against lowering that property assessment.
“The County Supervisor Robin Brunschon said I was doing myself a favor when in fact I was correcting what was incorrect. I guess because I am the assessor I do not deserve my assessment to be correct,” she wrote. “So if you are related to me, you should have to pay higher taxes.”
Jennifer Cleveland is due in court for a preliminary hearing at 9 a.m.
Jan. 26.