94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2005 and 2006
HB3864

 

Introduced 2/25/2005, by Rep. Sidney H. Mathias

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
35 ILCS 200/15-170
35 ILCS 200/15-175

    Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that the maximum reduction under the Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption shall be $3,500 for 2006, $4,000 for 2007, $4,500 for 2008, and $5,000 for 2009 and thereafter in all counties. Provides that the maximum reduction under the General Homestead Exemption shall be $5,500 for 2006, $6,000 for 2007, $6,500 for 2008, and $7,000 for 2009 and thereafter in all counties. Effective immediately.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning revenue.
 
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 Sections 15-170 and 15-175 as follows:
 
6     (35 ILCS 200/15-170)
7     Sec. 15-170. Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption. An
8 annual homestead exemption limited, except as described here
9 with relation to cooperatives or life care facilities, to a
10 maximum reduction set forth below from the property's value, as
11 equalized or assessed by the Department, is granted for
12 property that is occupied as a residence by a person 65 years
13 of age or older who is liable for paying real estate taxes on
14 the property and is an owner of record of the property or has a
15 legal or equitable interest therein as evidenced by a written
16 instrument, except for a leasehold interest, other than a
17 leasehold interest of land on which a single family residence
18 is located, which is occupied as a residence by a person 65
19 years or older who has an ownership interest therein, legal,
20 equitable or as a lessee, and on which he or she is liable for
21 the payment of property taxes. Before taxable year 2004, the
22 maximum reduction shall be $2,500 in counties with 3,000,000 or
23 more inhabitants and $2,000 in all other counties. For taxable
24 year years 2004 and thereafter, the maximum reduction shall be
25 $3,000 in all counties and shall be $3,500 for 2006, $4,000 for
26 2007, $4,500 for 2008, and $5,000 for 2009 and thereafter in
27 all counties. For land improved with an apartment building
28 owned and operated as a cooperative, the maximum reduction from
29 the value of the property, as equalized by the Department,
30 shall be multiplied by the number of apartments or units
31 occupied by a person 65 years of age or older who is liable, by
32 contract with the owner or owners of record, for paying

 

 

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1 property taxes on the property and is an owner of record of a
2 legal or equitable interest in the cooperative apartment
3 building, other than a leasehold interest. For land improved
4 with a life care facility, the maximum reduction from the value
5 of the property, as equalized by the Department, shall be
6 multiplied by the number of apartments or units occupied by
7 persons 65 years of age or older, irrespective of any legal,
8 equitable, or leasehold interest in the facility, who are
9 liable, under a contract with the owner or owners of record of
10 the facility, for paying property taxes on the property. In a
11 cooperative or a life care facility where a homestead exemption
12 has been granted, the cooperative association or the management
13 firm of the cooperative or facility shall credit the savings
14 resulting from that exemption only to the apportioned tax
15 liability of the owner or resident who qualified for the
16 exemption. Any person who willfully refuses to so credit the
17 savings shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Under this
18 Section and Sections 15-175 and 15-176, "life care facility"
19 means a facility as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care
20 Facilities Act, with which the applicant for the homestead
21 exemption has a life care contract as defined in that Act.
22     When a homestead exemption has been granted under this
23 Section and the person qualifying subsequently becomes a
24 resident of a facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care
25 Act, the exemption shall continue so long as the residence
26 continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse if
27 the spouse is 65 years of age or older, or if the residence
28 remains unoccupied but is still owned by the person qualified
29 for the homestead exemption.
30     A person who will be 65 years of age during the current
31 assessment year shall be eligible to apply for the homestead
32 exemption during that assessment year. Application shall be
33 made during the application period in effect for the county of
34 his residence.
35     Beginning with assessment year 2003, for taxes payable in
36 2004, property that is first occupied as a residence after

 

 

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1 January 1 of any assessment year by a person who is eligible
2 for the senior citizens homestead exemption under this Section
3 must be granted a pro-rata exemption for the assessment year.
4 The amount of the pro-rata exemption is the exemption allowed
5 in the county under this Section divided by 365 and multiplied
6 by the number of days during the assessment year the property
7 is occupied as a residence by a person eligible for the
8 exemption under this Section. The chief county assessment
9 officer must adopt reasonable procedures to establish
10 eligibility for this pro-rata exemption.
11     The assessor or chief county assessment officer may
12 determine the eligibility of a life care facility to receive
13 the benefits provided by this Section, by affidavit,
14 application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other
15 reasonable methods in order to insure that the tax savings
16 resulting from the exemption are credited by the management
17 firm to the apportioned tax liability of each qualifying
18 resident. The assessor may request reasonable proof that the
19 management firm has so credited the exemption.
20     The chief county assessment officer of each county with
21 less than 3,000,000 inhabitants shall provide to each person
22 allowed a homestead exemption under this Section a form to
23 designate any other person to receive a duplicate of any notice
24 of delinquency in the payment of taxes assessed and levied
25 under this Code on the property of the person receiving the
26 exemption. The duplicate notice shall be in addition to the
27 notice required to be provided to the person receiving the
28 exemption, and shall be given in the manner required by this
29 Code. The person filing the request for the duplicate notice
30 shall pay a fee of $5 to cover administrative costs to the
31 supervisor of assessments, who shall then file the executed
32 designation with the county collector. Notwithstanding any
33 other provision of this Code to the contrary, the filing of
34 such an executed designation requires the county collector to
35 provide duplicate notices as indicated by the designation. A
36 designation may be rescinded by the person who executed such

 

 

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1 designation at any time, in the manner and form required by the
2 chief county assessment officer.
3     The assessor or chief county assessment officer may
4 determine the eligibility of residential property to receive
5 the homestead exemption provided by this Section by
6 application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other
7 reasonable methods. The determination shall be made in
8 accordance with guidelines established by the Department.
9     In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the
10 county board may by resolution provide that if a person has
11 been granted a homestead exemption under this Section, the
12 person qualifying need not reapply for the exemption.
13     In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if the
14 assessor or chief county assessment officer requires annual
15 application for verification of eligibility for an exemption
16 once granted under this Section, the application shall be
17 mailed to the taxpayer.
18     The assessor or chief county assessment officer shall
19 notify each person who qualifies for an exemption under this
20 Section that the person may also qualify for deferral of real
21 estate taxes under the Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral
22 Act. The notice shall set forth the qualifications needed for
23 deferral of real estate taxes, the address and telephone number
24 of county collector, and a statement that applications for
25 deferral of real estate taxes may be obtained from the county
26 collector.
27     Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of the State Mandates Act,
28 no reimbursement by the State is required for the
29 implementation of any mandate created by this Section.
30 (Source: P.A. 92-196, eff. 1-1-02; 93-511, eff. 8-11-03;
31 93-715, eff. 7-12-04.)
 
32     (35 ILCS 200/15-175)
33     Sec. 15-175. General homestead exemption. Except as
34 provided in Section 15-176, homestead property is entitled to
35 an annual homestead exemption limited, except as described here

 

 

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1 with relation to cooperatives, to a reduction in the equalized
2 assessed value of homestead property equal to the increase in
3 equalized assessed value for the current assessment year above
4 the equalized assessed value of the property for 1977, up to
5 the maximum reduction set forth below. If however, the 1977
6 equalized assessed value upon which taxes were paid is
7 subsequently determined by local assessing officials, the
8 Property Tax Appeal Board, or a court to have been excessive,
9 the equalized assessed value which should have been placed on
10 the property for 1977 shall be used to determine the amount of
11 the exemption.
12     Except as provided in Section 15-176, the maximum reduction
13 before taxable year 2004 shall be $4,500 in counties with
14 3,000,000 or more inhabitants and $3,500 in all other counties.
15 Except as provided in Section 15-176, for taxable year years
16 2004 and thereafter, the maximum reduction shall be $5,000 in
17 all counties and shall be $5,500 for 2006, $6,000 for 2007,
18 $6,500 for 2008, and $7,000 for 2009 and thereafter in all
19 counties. If a county has elected to subject itself to the
20 provisions of Section 15-176 as provided in subsection (k) of
21 that Section, then, for the first taxable year only after the
22 provisions of Section 15-176 no longer apply, for owners (i)
23 who have not been granted a senior citizens assessment freeze
24 homestead exemption under Section 15-172 for the taxable year
25 and (ii) whose qualified property has an assessed valuation
26 that has increased by more than 20% over the previous assessed
27 valuation of the property, there shall be an additional
28 exemption of $5,000 for owners with a household income of
29 $30,000 or less. For purposes of this paragraph, "household
30 income" has the meaning set forth in this Section 15-175.
31     In counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if,
32 based on the most recent assessment, the equalized assessed
33 value of the homestead property for the current assessment year
34 is greater than the equalized assessed value of the property
35 for 1977, the owner of the property shall automatically receive
36 the exemption granted under this Section in an amount equal to

 

 

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1 the increase over the 1977 assessment up to the maximum
2 reduction set forth in this Section.
3     If in any assessment year beginning with the 2000
4 assessment year, homestead property has a pro-rata valuation
5 under Section 9-180 resulting in an increase in the assessed
6 valuation, a reduction in equalized assessed valuation equal to
7 the increase in equalized assessed value of the property for
8 the year of the pro-rata valuation above the equalized assessed
9 value of the property for 1977 shall be applied to the property
10 on a proportionate basis for the period the property qualified
11 as homestead property during the assessment year. The maximum
12 proportionate homestead exemption shall not exceed the maximum
13 homestead exemption allowed in the county under this Section
14 divided by 365 and multiplied by the number of days the
15 property qualified as homestead property.
16     "Homestead property" under this Section includes
17 residential property that is occupied by its owner or owners as
18 his or their principal dwelling place, or that is a leasehold
19 interest on which a single family residence is situated, which
20 is occupied as a residence by a person who has an ownership
21 interest therein, legal or equitable or as a lessee, and on
22 which the person is liable for the payment of property taxes.
23 For land improved with an apartment building owned and operated
24 as a cooperative or a building which is a life care facility as
25 defined in Section 15-170 and considered to be a cooperative
26 under Section 15-170, the maximum reduction from the equalized
27 assessed value shall be limited to the increase in the value
28 above the equalized assessed value of the property for 1977, up
29 to the maximum reduction set forth above, multiplied by the
30 number of apartments or units occupied by a person or persons
31 who is liable, by contract with the owner or owners of record,
32 for paying property taxes on the property and is an owner of
33 record of a legal or equitable interest in the cooperative
34 apartment building, other than a leasehold interest. For
35 purposes of this Section, the term "life care facility" has the
36 meaning stated in Section 15-170.

 

 

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1     "Household", as used in this Section, means the owner, the
2 spouse of the owner, and all persons using the residence of the
3 owner as their principal place of residence.
4     "Household income", as used in this Section, means the
5 combined income of the members of a household for the calendar
6 year preceding the taxable year.
7     "Income", as used in this Section, has the same meaning as
8 provided in Section 3.07 of the Senior Citizens and Disabled
9 Persons Property Tax Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act,
10 except that "income" does not include veteran's benefits.
11     In a cooperative where a homestead exemption has been
12 granted, the cooperative association or its management firm
13 shall credit the savings resulting from that exemption only to
14 the apportioned tax liability of the owner who qualified for
15 the exemption. Any person who willfully refuses to so credit
16 the savings shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
17     Where married persons maintain and reside in separate
18 residences qualifying as homestead property, each residence
19 shall receive 50% of the total reduction in equalized assessed
20 valuation provided by this Section.
21     In all counties, the assessor or chief county assessment
22 officer may determine the eligibility of residential property
23 to receive the homestead exemption and the amount of the
24 exemption by application, visual inspection, questionnaire or
25 other reasonable methods. The determination shall be made in
26 accordance with guidelines established by the Department,
27 provided that the taxpayer applying for an additional general
28 exemption under this Section shall submit to the chief county
29 assessment officer an application with an affidavit of the
30 applicant's total household income, age, marital status (and,
31 if married, the name and address of the applicant's spouse, if
32 known), and principal dwelling place of members of the
33 household on January 1 of the taxable year. The Department
34 shall issue guidelines establishing a method for verifying the
35 accuracy of the affidavits filed by applicants under this
36 paragraph. The applications shall be clearly marked as

 

 

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1 applications for the Additional General Homestead Exemption.
2     In counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, in the
3 event of a sale of homestead property the homestead exemption
4 shall remain in effect for the remainder of the assessment year
5 of the sale. The assessor or chief county assessment officer
6 may require the new owner of the property to apply for the
7 homestead exemption for the following assessment year.
8     Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of the State Mandates Act,
9 no reimbursement by the State is required for the
10 implementation of any mandate created by this Section.
11 (Source: P.A. 93-715, eff. 7-12-04.)
 
12     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
13 becoming law.