SB3872 104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

LRB104 20188 HLH 33639 b

104TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2025 and 2026
SB3872

Introduced 2/6/2026, by Sen. Craig Wilcox

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:

35 ILCS 200/15-171 new

Amends the Property Tax Code. Creates the free and clear senior homestead exemption. Provides that certain homestead property that is owned and used a primary residence by a person who is 75 years of age or older and whose income does not exceed a specified income limitation is exempt from taxation under the Code.

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 15-171 as follows:

(35 ILCS 200/15-171 new)

Sec. 15-171. Free and clear senior homestead exemption.

(a) Beginning in taxable year 2027, qualified senior homestead property is exempt from taxation under the provisions of this Code.

(b) For land improved with an apartment building owned and operated as a cooperative, the maximum reduction from the value of the property, as equalized by the Department, shall be multiplied by the number of apartments or units occupied by a qualified senior citizen. For land improved with a life care facility, the maximum reduction from the value of the property, as equalized by the Department, shall be multiplied by the number of apartments or units occupied by a qualified senior citizen. In a cooperative or a life care facility where a homestead exemption has been granted, the cooperative association or the management firm of the cooperative or facility shall credit the savings resulting from that exemption only to the apportioned tax liability of the owner or resident who qualified for the exemption. Any person who willfully refuses to so credit the savings shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Under this Section and Sections 15-175, 15-176, and 15-177, "life care facility" means a facility, as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care Facilities Act, with which the applicant for the homestead exemption has a life care contract as defined in that Act

(c) If a homestead exemption has been granted under this Section and the person qualifying subsequently 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 continue so long as the residence continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse if the spouse is 75 years of age or older, or if the residence remains unoccupied but is still owned by the person qualified for the homestead exemption.

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

(e) As used in this Section:

"Consumer Price Index" means the index published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor that measures the average change in prices of goods and services purchased by all urban consumers, United States city average, all items, 1982-84 = 100.

"Household income" has the meaning given to that term in Section 15-172.

"Maximum income limitation" means (i) for taxable year 2027, $100,000 and (ii) for taxable years after 2027, the maximum income limitation for the immediately preceding taxable year, multiplied by one plus the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year immediately preceding the taxable year.

"Qualified senior citizen" means a person who:

(1) is 75 years of age or older on January 1 of the taxable year for which the exemption will be applied; and

(2) has a household income that does not exceed the maximum income limitation.

"Qualified senior homestead property" means homestead property that:

(1) is used as a primary residence by qualified senior citizen who has an ownership interest in the property, legal, equitable, or as a lessee, and who is liable for the payment of property taxes;

(2) is not used as a primary residence by a student at a school district or a community college district in the State; and

(3) is not subject to any liens, including, but not limited to, a mortgage, home equity line of credit, or reverse mortgage.