95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
HB0143

 

Introduced 1/19/2007, by Rep. Brent Hassert - Jim Watson

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
35 ILCS 200/15-170

    Amends the Property Tax Code. In a Section concerning the Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption, increases the maximum amount of the exemption in all counties, from $3,500 to $5,000 and provides that the maximum amount must be increased each year 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. 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 Section 15-170 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

 

 

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1 years 2004 through 2005, the maximum reduction shall be $3,000
2 in all counties. For taxable year years 2006 and thereafter,
3 the maximum reduction shall be $3,500 in all counties. For
4 taxable year 2007, the maximum reduction in all counties is
5 $5,000. For taxable year 2008 and thereafter, the maximum
6 reduction, in all counties, is the amount of the maximum
7 reduction for the immediately prior taxable year increased by
8 an amount equal to the lesser of (i) 2% or (ii) the percentage
9 increase during the immediately prior taxable year in the
10 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers for all items
11 published by the United States Department of Labor Bureau of
12 Labor Statistics.
13     For land improved with an apartment building owned and
14 operated as a cooperative, the maximum reduction from the value
15 of the property, as equalized by the Department, shall be
16 multiplied by the number of apartments or units occupied by a
17 person 65 years of age or older who is liable, by contract with
18 the owner or owners of record, for paying property taxes on the
19 property and is an owner of record of a legal or equitable
20 interest in the cooperative apartment building, other than a
21 leasehold interest. For land improved with a life care
22 facility, the maximum reduction from the value of the property,
23 as equalized by the Department, shall be multiplied by the
24 number of apartments or units occupied by persons 65 years of
25 age or older, irrespective of any legal, equitable, or
26 leasehold interest in the facility, who are liable, under a

 

 

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1 contract with the owner or owners of record of the facility,
2 for paying property taxes on the property. In a cooperative or
3 a life care facility where a homestead exemption has been
4 granted, the cooperative association or the management firm of
5 the cooperative or facility shall credit the savings resulting
6 from that exemption only to the apportioned tax liability of
7 the owner or resident who qualified for the exemption. Any
8 person who willfully refuses to so credit the savings shall be
9 guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Under this Section and
10 Sections 15-175 and 15-176, "life care facility" means a
11 facility as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care Facilities
12 Act, with which the applicant for the homestead exemption has a
13 life care contract as defined in that Act.
14     When a homestead exemption has been granted under this
15 Section and the person qualifying subsequently becomes a
16 resident of a facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care
17 Act, the exemption shall continue so long as the residence
18 continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse if
19 the spouse is 65 years of age or older, or if the residence
20 remains unoccupied but is still owned by the person qualified
21 for the homestead exemption.
22     A person who will be 65 years of age during the current
23 assessment year shall be eligible to apply for the homestead
24 exemption during that assessment year. Application shall be
25 made during the application period in effect for the county of
26 his residence.

 

 

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1     Beginning with assessment year 2003, for taxes payable in
2 2004, property that is first occupied as a residence after
3 January 1 of any assessment year by a person who is eligible
4 for the senior citizens homestead exemption under this Section
5 must be granted a pro-rata exemption for the assessment year.
6 The amount of the pro-rata exemption is the exemption allowed
7 in the county under this Section divided by 365 and multiplied
8 by the number of days during the assessment year the property
9 is occupied as a residence by a person eligible for the
10 exemption under this Section. The chief county assessment
11 officer must adopt reasonable procedures to establish
12 eligibility for this pro-rata exemption.
13     The assessor or chief county assessment officer may
14 determine the eligibility of a life care facility to receive
15 the benefits provided by this Section, by affidavit,
16 application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other
17 reasonable methods in order to insure that the tax savings
18 resulting from the exemption are credited by the management
19 firm to the apportioned tax liability of each qualifying
20 resident. The assessor may request reasonable proof that the
21 management firm has so credited the exemption.
22     The chief county assessment officer of each county with
23 less than 3,000,000 inhabitants shall provide to each person
24 allowed a homestead exemption under this Section a form to
25 designate any other person to receive a duplicate of any notice
26 of delinquency in the payment of taxes assessed and levied

 

 

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1 under this Code on the property of the person receiving the
2 exemption. The duplicate notice shall be in addition to the
3 notice required to be provided to the person receiving the
4 exemption, and shall be given in the manner required by this
5 Code. The person filing the request for the duplicate notice
6 shall pay a fee of $5 to cover administrative costs to the
7 supervisor of assessments, who shall then file the executed
8 designation with the county collector. Notwithstanding any
9 other provision of this Code to the contrary, the filing of
10 such an executed designation requires the county collector to
11 provide duplicate notices as indicated by the designation. A
12 designation may be rescinded by the person who executed such
13 designation at any time, in the manner and form required by the
14 chief county assessment officer.
15     The assessor or chief county assessment officer may
16 determine the eligibility of residential property to receive
17 the homestead exemption provided by this Section by
18 application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other
19 reasonable methods. The determination shall be made in
20 accordance with guidelines established by the Department.
21     In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the
22 county board may by resolution provide that if a person has
23 been granted a homestead exemption under this Section, the
24 person qualifying need not reapply for the exemption.
25     In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if the
26 assessor or chief county assessment officer requires annual

 

 

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1 application for verification of eligibility for an exemption
2 once granted under this Section, the application shall be
3 mailed to the taxpayer.
4     The assessor or chief county assessment officer shall
5 notify each person who qualifies for an exemption under this
6 Section that the person may also qualify for deferral of real
7 estate taxes under the Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral
8 Act. The notice shall set forth the qualifications needed for
9 deferral of real estate taxes, the address and telephone number
10 of county collector, and a statement that applications for
11 deferral of real estate taxes may be obtained from the county
12 collector.
13     Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of the State Mandates Act,
14 no reimbursement by the State is required for the
15 implementation of any mandate created by this Section.
16 (Source: P.A. 93-511, eff. 8-11-03; 93-715, eff. 7-12-04;
17 94-794, eff. 5-22-06.)
 
18     Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
19 becoming law.