CHICAGO - Declaring that the people should understand how government works, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas today unveiled an outreach campaign to educate Chicagoland property owners about the property-tax system.

T.O.P.S. (Treasurer's Outreach Program and Services) commenced with a presentation that featured flags from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States of America, and Uruguay.

Collectors Series/City Lights photographs by Michael Gustafson were on display to honor Chicago's skyline. A ceremonial cake-cutting ceremony inaugurated T.O.P.S. The two-foot-high cake was donated by Papagalino European Pastry Shop at 9014 N. Milwaukee Avenue in Niles, IL.

In an effort to educate and inform Chicagoland's diverse communities on how the Cook County property- tax system works, and how to obtain refunds and exemptions to which taxpayers are entitled, a series of easy-to-understand pamphlets in English, Spanish, Polish, Korean, Cantonese and other languages will be distributed throughout Cook County to community groups.

Pappas said she inaugurated T.O.P.S. in an effort to provide information to the ethnic and community groups within Cook County. "The government belongs to the people," Pappas said. "The people need to understand what is theirs, and that's the purpose of T.O.P.S."

The ceremony began at 10:00 a.m., on Monday, August 27, at 118 North Clark Street, Room 112