HB4946 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 17368 HLH 30793 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
HB4946

Introduced , by Rep. Daniel Didech

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

35 ILCS 200/15-60

Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that property leased, subleased, or rented, in whole or in part, to a taxing district and used exclusively for a bona fide taxing district purpose is exempt. Provides that the exemption applies only to the portion of the property used for bona fide taxing district purposes. Effective immediately.

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 changing Section 15-60 as follows:

(35 ILCS 200/15-60)

Sec. 15-60. Taxing district property. All property belonging to any county or municipality used exclusively for the maintenance of the poor is exempt, as is all property owned by a taxing district that is being held for future expansion or development, except if leased by the taxing district to lessees for use for other than public purposes.

Also exempt are:

(a) all swamp or overflowed lands belonging to any county;

(b) all public buildings belonging to any county, township, or municipality, with the ground on which the buildings are erected;

(c) all property owned by any municipality located within its incorporated limits. Any such property leased by a municipality shall remain exempt, and the leasehold interest of the lessee shall be assessed under Section 9-195 of this Act, (i) for a lease entered into on or after January 1, 1994, unless the lease expressly provides that this exemption shall not apply; (ii) for a lease entered into on or after the effective date of Public Act 87-1280 and before January 1, 1994, unless the lease expressly provides that this exemption shall not apply or unless evidence other than the lease itself substantiates the intent of the parties to the lease that this exemption shall not apply; and (iii) for a lease entered into before the effective date of Public Act 87-1280, if the terms of the lease do not bind the lessee to pay the taxes on the leased property or if, notwithstanding the terms of the lease, the municipality has filed or hereafter files a timely exemption petition or complaint with respect to property consisting of or including the leased property for an assessment year which includes part or all of the first 12 months of the lease period. The foregoing clause (iii) added by Public Act 87-1280 shall not operate to exempt property for any assessment year as to which no timely exemption petition or complaint has been filed by the municipality or as to which an administrative or court decision denying exemption has become final and nonappealable. For each assessment year or portion thereof that property is made exempt by operation of the foregoing clause (iii), whether such year or portion is before or after the effective date of Public Act 87-1280, the leasehold interest of the lessee shall, if necessary, be considered omitted property for purposes of this Act;

(c-5) Notwithstanding clause (i) of subsection (c), or any other law to the contrary, for a municipality with a population over 100,000, all property owned by the municipality, or property interests or rights held by the municipality, regardless of whether such property, interests, or rights are, in whole or in part, within or without its corporate limits, that is used for toll road or toll bridge purposes and that is leased or licensed for those purposes to another entity whose property or property interests or rights are not exempt shall remain exempt, and any leasehold interest in such property, interest, or rights shall not be subject to taxation under Section 9-195 of this Code;

(d) all property owned by any municipality located outside its incorporated limits but within the same county when used as a tuberculosis sanitarium, farm colony in connection with a house of correction, or nursery, garden, or farm, or for the growing of shrubs, trees, flowers, vegetables, and plants for use in beautifying, maintaining, and operating playgrounds, parks, parkways, public grounds, buildings, and institutions owned or controlled by the municipality;

(e) all property owned by a township and operated as senior citizen housing under Sections 35-50 through 35-50.6 of the Township Code; and

(f) all property owned by the Executive Board of the Mutual Aid Box Alarm System (MABAS), a unit of intergovernmental cooperation, that is used for the public purpose of disaster preparedness and response for units of local government and the State of Illinois pursuant to Section 10 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution and the Intergovernmental Cooperation Act; and .

(g) beginning in taxable year 2026, all property leased, subleased, or rented, in whole or in part, to a taxing district and used exclusively for a bona fide taxing district purpose, with the exemption applying only to the portion of the property used for bona fide taxing district purposes.

All property owned by any municipality outside of its corporate limits is exempt if used exclusively for municipal or public purposes.

An exemption under item (g) shall be granted only upon application to the Department of Revenue by the taxing district in the manner prescribed by the Department of Revenue. The application shall include: (1) proof that the taxing district is exempt from taxation under this Code; and (2) a copy of the lease, sublease, or rental agreement. An exemption granted under item (g) applies only for the duration of the lease, sublease, or rental term identified in the application and terminates at the end of that term unless a lease or rental extension is submitted in a subsequent application filed in the manner prescribed by the Department of Revenue.

For purposes of this Section, "municipality" means a municipality, as defined in Section 1-1-2 of the Illinois Municipal Code.

(Source: P.A. 101-398, eff. 8-16-19.)

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