093_HB3439

 
                                     LRB093 05082 SJM 05142 b

 1        AN ACT concerning taxes.

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

 4        Section 5.  The Property Tax Code is amended by  changing
 5    Section 15-170 as follows:

 6        (35 ILCS 200/15-170)
 7        Sec.   15-170.   Senior  Citizens  and  Disabled  Persons
 8    Homestead Exemption.  An annual homestead exemption  limited,
 9    except  as  described  here  with relation to cooperatives or
10    life care facilities, to a maximum reduction set forth  below
11    from  the  property's value, as  equalized or assessed by the
12    Department, is granted for property that is   occupied  as  a
13    residence  by  a  person  65  years  of  age or older or, for
14    taxable years 2003 and thereafter, a disabled person  who  is
15    liable for paying real estate taxes on the property and is an
16    owner  of  record of the property or has a legal or equitable
17    interest therein as evidenced by a written instrument, except
18    for a leasehold interest, other than a leasehold interest  of
19    land  on which a single family residence is located, which is
20    occupied as a residence by a person 65 years or older or, for
21    taxable years 2003 and thereafter, a disabled person who  has
22    an  ownership  interest  therein,  legal,  equitable  or as a
23    lessee, and on which he or she is liable for the  payment  of
24    property  taxes.  The  maximum  reduction  shall be $2,500 in
25    counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants and $2,000 in all
26    other counties.  For land improved with an apartment building
27    owned and operated as a cooperative,  the  maximum  reduction
28    from   the  value  of  the  property,  as  equalized  by  the
29    Department, shall be multiplied by the number  of  apartments
30    or  units  occupied  by a person 65 years of age or older or,
31    for taxable years 2003 and thereafter, a disabled person  who
 
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 1    is  liable,  by contract with the owner or owners of  record,
 2    for paying property taxes on the property and is an owner  of
 3    record  of  a  legal or equitable interest in the cooperative
 4    apartment building, other than  a  leasehold  interest.   For
 5    land   improved  with  a  life  care  facility,  the  maximum
 6    reduction from the value of the property, as equalized by the
 7    Department, shall be multiplied by the number  of  apartments
 8    or units occupied by persons 65 years of age or older or, for
 9    taxable  years 2003 and thereafter, disabled, irrespective of
10    any legal, equitable, or leasehold interest in the  facility,
11    who  are liable, under a contract with the owner or owners of
12    record of the facility, for  paying  property  taxes  on  the
13    property.   In  a cooperative or a life care facility where a
14    homestead   exemption  has  been  granted,  the   cooperative
15    association  or  the  management  firm  of the cooperative or
16    facility  shall  credit  the  savings  resulting  from   that
17    exemption  only to the apportioned tax liability of the owner
18    or resident who qualified for the exemption. Any  person  who
19    willfully refuses to so credit the savings shall be guilty of
20    a Class B misdemeanor. Under this Section and Section 15-175,
21    "life care facility" means a facility as defined in Section 2
22    of the Life Care Facilities Act, with which the applicant for
23    the  homestead  exemption has a life care contract as defined
24    in that Act.
25        When a homestead exemption has been  granted  under  this
26    Section  and  the  person  qualifying  subsequently becomes a
27    resident of a facility licensed under the Nursing  Home  Care
28    Act,  the  exemption  shall continue so long as the residence
29    continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse if
30    the spouse is 65 years of age or older or, for taxable  years
31    2003  and  thereafter,  disabled, or if the residence remains
32    unoccupied but is still owned by the person qualified for the
33    homestead exemption.
34        A person who will be 65 years  of  age  or,  for  taxable
 
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 1    years  2003  and  thereafter, who becomes disabled during the
 2    current assessment year shall be eligible to  apply  for  the
 3    homestead  exemption during that assessment year. Application
 4    shall be made during the application period in effect for the
 5    county of his residence.
 6        The assessor  or  chief  county  assessment  officer  may
 7    determine  the eligibility of a life care facility to receive
 8    the  benefits  provided  by  this  Section,   by   affidavit,
 9    application,   visual   inspection,  questionnaire  or  other
10    reasonable methods in order to insure that  the  tax  savings
11    resulting  from  the exemption are credited by the management
12    firm to the apportioned  tax  liability  of  each  qualifying
13    resident.  The assessor may request reasonable proof that the
14    management firm has so credited the exemption.
15        The  chief  county assessment officer of each county with
16    less than 3,000,000 inhabitants shall provide to each  person
17    allowed  a  homestead  exemption under this Section a form to
18    designate any other person to  receive  a  duplicate  of  any
19    notice  of  delinquency  in the payment of taxes assessed and
20    levied  under  this  Code  on  the  property  of  the  person
21    receiving the exemption.  The duplicate notice  shall  be  in
22    addition  to the notice required to be provided to the person
23    receiving the exemption, and shall be  given  in  the  manner
24    required by this Code.  The person filing the request for the
25    duplicate   notice   shall   pay   a   fee  of  $5  to  cover
26    administrative costs to the supervisor  of  assessments,  who
27    shall  then  file  the  executed  designation with the county
28    collector.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this  Code
29    to  the  contrary, the filing of such an executed designation
30    requires the county collector to provide duplicate notices as
31    indicated by the designation.  A designation may be rescinded
32    by the person who executed such designation at any  time,  in
33    the  manner  and form required by the chief county assessment
34    officer.
 
                            -4-      LRB093 05082 SJM 05142 b
 1        The assessor  or  chief  county  assessment  officer  may
 2    determine  the eligibility of residential property to receive
 3    the  homestead  exemption  provided  by   this   Section   by
 4    application,   visual   inspection,  questionnaire  or  other
 5    reasonable methods.   The  determination  shall  be  made  in
 6    accordance with guidelines established by the Department.
 7        In  counties  with  less  than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the
 8    county board may by resolution provide that if a  person  has
 9    been  granted  a  homestead exemption under this Section, the
10    person qualifying need not reapply for the exemption.
11        In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if  the
12    assessor  or  chief county assessment officer requires annual
13    application for verification of eligibility for an  exemption
14    once  granted  under  this  Section, the application shall be
15    mailed to the taxpayer.
16        The assessor or chief  county  assessment  officer  shall
17    notify  each person who qualifies for an exemption under this
18    Section based only on age that the person  may  also  qualify
19    for  deferral  of real estate taxes under the Senior Citizens
20    Real Estate Tax Deferral Act.  The notice shall set forth the
21    qualifications needed for deferral of real estate taxes,  the
22    address  and  telephone  number  of  county  collector, and a
23    statement that applications for deferral of real estate taxes
24    may be obtained from the county collector.
25        For purposes of this Section, "disabled person"  has  the
26    same  meaning  as  in Section 3.14 of the Senior Citizens and
27    Disabled  Persons  Property  Tax  Relief  and  Pharmaceutical
28    Assistance Act.
29        Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of  the  State  Mandates
30    Act,  no  reimbursement  by  the  State  is  required for the
31    implementation of any mandate created by this Section.
32    (Source: P.A. 92-196, eff. 1-1-02.)

33        Section  90.   The  State  Mandates  Act  is  amended  by
 
                            -5-      LRB093 05082 SJM 05142 b
 1    changing Section 8.2 as follows:

 2        (30 ILCS 805/8.2) (from Ch. 85, par. 2208.2)
 3        Sec. 8.2. Exempt mandate.  Notwithstanding Sections 6 and
 4    8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required  for
 5    the  implementation  of  any mandate created by The following
 6    mandate is exempt from this Act: The homestead exemptions set
 7    forth in Section 15-170 of the Property Tax Code.
 8    (Source: P.A. 88-670, eff. 12-2-94.)

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