HB2609 100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB100 11066 HLH 21308 b

100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2017 and 2018
HB2609

Introduced , by Rep. Sonya M. Harper

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

35 ILCS 200/15-172.5 new

Amends the Property Tax Code. Creates a resident low-income assessment freeze homestead exemption. Provides that the maximum income limitation is $75,000 for applicants who have occupied the residence in a low-income area 5 years or more. Indexes the maximum limitation to the Consumer Price Index. Effective immediately.

FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

A BILL FOR

AN ACT concerning revenue.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by adding Section 15-172.5 as follows:

(35 ILCS 200/15-172.5 new)

Sec. 15-172.5. Resident Low-Income Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption.

(a) This Section may be cited as the Resident Low-Income Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption.

(b) As used in this Section:

"Applicant" means an individual who has filed an application under this Section.

"Base amount" means the base year equalized assessed value of the residence plus the first year's equalized assessed value of any added improvements which increased the assessed value of the residence after the base year.

"Base year" means the taxable year prior to the taxable year for which the applicant first qualifies and applies for the exemption, provided that, in the prior taxable year, the property was improved with a permanent structure that was occupied as a residence by the applicant who was liable for paying real property taxes on the property and who was either (i) an owner of record of the property or had legal or equitable interest in the property as evidenced by a written instrument or (ii) had a legal or equitable interest as a lessee in the parcel of property that was single family residence.

"Chief County Assessment Officer" means the County Assessor or Supervisor of Assessments of the county in which the property is located.

"Equalized assessed value" means the assessed value of the property as equalized by the Department of Revenue.

"Household" means the applicant, the spouse of the applicant, and all persons using the residence of the applicant as their principal place of residence.

"Household income" means the combined income of the members of a household for the calendar year preceding the taxable year.

"Income" has the same meaning as provided in Section 3.07 of the Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities Property Tax Relief Act, but does not include veteran's benefits.

"Internal Revenue Code of 1986" means the United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any successor law or laws relating to federal income taxes in effect for the year preceding the taxable year.

"Life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative" means a facility as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care Facilities Act.

"Low-income area" means a census tract with a median income at or below the Federal Poverty Level, issued by the United States Department of Health and Human Services.

"Maximum income limitation" means:

(1) in taxable year 2017, (A) $50,000 for applicants who have occupied the residence for less than 5 years and (B) $75,000 for applicants who have occupied the residence for 5 or more years; and

(2) in taxable year 2018 and thereafter, (A) for applicants who have occupied the residence for less than 5 years, an amount equal to the maximum income limitation for the immediately prior taxable year for applicants who have occupied the residence for less than 5 years increased by the lesser of (i) 2% or (ii) the percentage increase during the immediately prior taxable year in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for all items published by the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics and (B) for applicants who have occupied the residence for 5 or more years, an amount equal to the maximum income limitation for the immediately prior taxable year for applicants who have occupied the residence for 5 or more years increased by the lesser of (i) 2% or (ii) the percentage increase during the immediately prior taxable year in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for all items published by the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

"Residence" means the principal dwelling place and appurtenant structures used for residential purposes in this State occupied on January 1 of the taxable year by a household and so much of the surrounding land, constituting the parcel upon which the dwelling place is situated, as is used for residential purposes. If the chief county assessment officer has established a specific legal description for a portion of property constituting the residence, then that portion of property shall be deemed the residence for the purposes of this Section.

"Taxable year" means the calendar year during which ad valorem property taxes payable in the next succeeding year are levied.

(c) Beginning in taxable year 2017, an assessment freeze homestead exemption is granted for real property that is improved with a permanent structure that is occupied as a residence by an applicant who (i) resides in a low-income area, (ii) has a household income that does not exceed the maximum income limitation, (iii) is liable for paying real property taxes on the property, (iv) is an owner of record of the property or has a legal or equitable interest in the property as evidenced by a written instrument, and (v) who has occupied the residence for 5 years or more. This homestead exemption shall also apply to a leasehold interest in a parcel of property improved with a permanent structure that is a single family residence that is occupied as a residence by a person who (i) resides in a low-income area, (ii) has a household income that does not exceed the maximum income limitation, (iii) has a legal or equitable ownership interest in the property as lessee, (iv) is liable for the payment of real property taxes on that property, and (v) who has occupied this residence for 5 years or more.

The amount of the exemption is the equalized assessed value of the residence in the taxable year for which application is made minus the base amount.

When the applicant is a surviving spouse of an applicant for a prior year for the same residence for which an exemption under this Section has been granted, the base year and base amount for that residence are the same as for the applicant for the prior year.

Each year at the time the assessment books are certified to the County Clerk, the Board of Review or Board of Appeals shall give to the County Clerk a list of the assessed values of improvements on each parcel qualifying for this exemption that were added after the base year for this parcel and that increased the assessed value of the property.

In the case of land improved with an apartment building owned and operated as a cooperative or a building that is a life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative, the maximum reduction from the equalized assessed value of the property is limited to the sum of the reductions calculated for each unit occupied as a residence by a person or persons (i) residing in a low-income area, (ii) with a household income that does not exceed the maximum income limitation, (iii) who are liable, by contract with the owner or owners of record, for paying real property taxes on the property, (iv) who is an owner of record of a legal or equitable interest in the cooperative apartment building, other than a leasehold interest, and (v) who have occupied the residence for 5 years or more. In the instance of a cooperative where a homestead exemption has been granted under this Section, the cooperative association or its management firm shall credit the savings resulting from that exemption only to the apportioned tax liability of the owner who qualified for the exemption. Any person who willfully refuses to credit that savings to an owner who qualifies for the exemption is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.

When a homestead exemption has been granted under this Section and an applicant then becomes a resident of a facility licensed under the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act, the Nursing Home Care Act, the Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the ID/DD Community Care Act, or the MC/DD Act, the exemption shall be granted in subsequent years so long as the residence (i) continues to be occupied by the qualified applicant's spouse or (ii) if remaining unoccupied, is still owned by the qualified applicant for the homestead exemption.

When married persons maintain separate residences, the exemption provided for in this Section may be claimed by only one of such persons and for only one residence.

In counties having 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, to receive the exemption, a person may submit an application to the chief county assessment officer of the county in which the property is located during such period as may be specified by the chief county assessment officer. The chief county assessment officer in counties of 3,000,000 or more inhabitants shall annually give notice of the application period by mail or by publication. In counties having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, to receive the exemption, a person shall submit an application by July 1 of each taxable year to the chief county assessment officer of the county in which the property is located. A county having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants may, by ordinance, establish a date for submission of applications that is different than July 1. The applicant shall submit with the application an affidavit verifying the applicant's qualifications for the exemption under this Section. The Department shall establish, by rule, a method for verifying the accuracy of such affidavits, and the chief county assessment officer may conduct audits of any taxpayer claiming an exemption under this Section to verify that the taxpayer is eligible to receive the exemption. Each application shall contain or be verified by a written declaration that it is made under the penalties of perjury. A taxpayer's signing a fraudulent application under this Act is perjury, as defined in Section 32-2 of the Criminal Code of 2012. The applications shall be clearly marked as applications for the Resident Low-Income Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption and must contain a notice that any taxpayer who receives the exemption is subject to an audit by the chief county assessment officer.

If an applicant fails to file the application required by this Section in a timely manner and this failure to file is due to a mental or physical condition sufficiently severe so as to render the applicant incapable of filing the application in a timely manner, the chief county assessment officer may extend the filing deadline for a period of 30 days after the applicant regains the capability to file the application, but in no case may the filing deadline be extended beyond 3 months of the original filing deadline. In order to receive the extension provided in this paragraph, the applicant shall provide the chief county assessment officer with a signed statement from the applicant's physician, advanced practice nurse, or physician assistant stating the nature and extent of the condition, that, in the physician's, advanced practice nurse's, or physician assistant's opinion, the condition was so severe that it rendered the applicant incapable of filing the application in a timely manner, and the date on which the applicant regained the capability to file the application.

The chief county assessment officer may determine the eligibility of a life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative to receive the benefits provided by this Section by use of an affidavit, application, visual inspection, questionnaire, or other reasonable method in order to insure that the tax savings resulting from the exemption are credited by the management firm to the apportioned tax liability of each qualifying resident. The chief county assessment officer may request reasonable proof that the management firm has so credited that exemption.

Except as provided in this Section, all information received by the chief county assessment officer or the Department from applications filed under this Section, or from any investigation conducted under the provisions of this Section, shall be confidential, except for official purposes or pursuant to official procedures for collection of any State or local tax or enforcement of any civil or criminal penalty or sanction imposed by this Act or by any statute or ordinance imposing a State or local tax. Any person who divulges any such information in any manner, except in accordance with a proper judicial order, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

Nothing contained in this Section shall prevent the Director or chief county assessment officer from publishing or making available reasonable statistics concerning the operation of the exemption contained in this Section in which the contents of claims are grouped into aggregates in such a way that information contained in any individual claim shall not be disclosed.

(d) Each Chief County Assessment Officer shall annually publish a notice of availability of the exemption provided under this Section. The notice shall be published at least 60 days but no more than 75 days prior to the date on which the application must be submitted to the Chief County Assessment Officer of the county in which the property is located. The notice shall appear in a newspaper of general circulation in the county.

Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of the State Mandates Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the implementation of any mandate created by this Section.

Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon becoming law.