Trump Organization Communications (Illinois Department of Revenue)

Mr. Koob

Pursuant to 5 ILCS 140/3(e)(vi), the Illinois Department of Revenue is availing itself of an extension of five business days -through and including Tuesday, April 3, 2018- to respond to your Freedom of Information request received in our office on March 20, 2018.

Thank you,

Abbie Rennolds
Freedom of Information Officer
Illinois Department of Revenue
101 W. Jefferson St. MC 6-595
Springfield, IL 62702

Mr. Koob,

Please accept this email as a request for an additional extension of time, through and including, Tuesday, April 10, 2018, to respond to your Freedom of Information request.

We appreciate your patience as we work to respond to your request.

Thank you,

Abbie Rennolds
Freedom of Information Officer
Illinois Department of Revenue
101 W. Jefferson St. MC 6-595
Springfield, IL 62702

Mr. Koob,

This email is being sent in response to your request dated March 20, 2018, for "All communications in your possession, of any type whatsoever, to and from the Trump Organization and any Trump Organization subsidiaries or their agents regarding tax abatements, exemptions, subsidies, or reductions on their real or personal property."

Please be advised that the Department deems your request to be unduly burdensome pursuant to 5 ILCS 140/3(g). Your request for "All communications in your possession, of any type whatsoever" is categorical and overly broad, particularly because you have requested records with no specified timeframe. Additionally your request for communications lacks guidance on the specific individuals from which to search for responsive records. Without this information, attempting to discern records that are responsive from those that are not would place an undue burden on this office's resources. Section 3(g) of FOIA states that a public body may deny a request where "compliance with the request would be unduly burdensome for the complying public body and there is no way to narrow the request and the burden on the public body outweighs the public interest in the information." Your request as written is overly broad and would be disruptive to the day-to-day operations of the Department. You are invited to narrow and clarify your request by identifying custodians in the Illinois Department of Revenue who may have records responsive to your request, specifically identifying the records you seek, and narrowing the timeframe within which to search, or by providing keywords responsive to a search. Pursuant to section 3(g), we invite you to narrow your request.

Furthermore, please note that Illinois does not have a personal property tax. As a result, it is highly unlikely the Department would have any records responsive to your request for communications regarding "tax abatements, exemptions, subsidies, or reductions" on personal property.

In addition, property tax abatements and reductions are determined by the counties. As a result, it is highly unlikely the Department would have any records responsive to your request for communications regarding tax abatements or reductions. We suggest you contact the County Assessor's Office of the county in which the properties are located.

Finally, property tax exemptions are only granted to properties of religious, charitable, and educational organizations, as well as units of federal, state and local governments. As a result, the Department is highly unlikely to have records pertaining to your request for communications pertaining to property tax exemption for "the Trump Organization and any Trump Organization subsidiaries or their agents." Ultimately, property tax exemptions are recorded at the county level. We suggest you contact the County Assessor's Office of the county in which the properties are located.

To the extent you consider this response to be a denial of your FOIA request, you have the right to submit a request for review by the Public Access Counselor (the "PAC") in the Office of the Illinois Attorney General to:

Public Access Counselor

Office of the Attorney General

500 S. 2nd St.

Springfield, IL 62706

Fax: 217-782-1396

E-mail: publicaccess@atg.state.il.us<mailto:publicaccess@atg.state.il.us>

If you choose to submit a request for review to the PAC, you must do so within 60 days after the date of this letter. Your request for review must be in writing, signed by you, and include a copy of your FOIA request and this response (5 ILCS 140/9.5(a)). You also have the right to seek judicial review of this response (See 5 ILCS 140/11(a),(b)).

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Abbie Rennolds
Freedom of Information Officer
Illinois Department of Revenue
101 W. Jefferson St. MC 6-595
Springfield, IL 62702