Full Text of SB2820 95th General Assembly
SB2820eng 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| AN ACT concerning revenue, which may be cited as the | 2 |
| Homestead Assessment Transparency Act.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing | 6 |
| Section 12-30 as follows:
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| (35 ILCS 200/12-30)
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| Sec. 12-30. Mailed notice of changed assessments; counties | 9 |
| of less than
3,000,000. | 10 |
| (a) In every county with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, | 11 |
| in addition to
the publication of the list of assessments in | 12 |
| each year of a general assessment
and of the list of property | 13 |
| for which assessments have been added or changed,
as provided | 14 |
| above, a notice shall be mailed by the chief county assessment
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| officer to each taxpayer whose assessment has been changed | 16 |
| since the last
preceding assessment, using the address as it | 17 |
| appears on the assessor's
records, except in the case of | 18 |
| changes caused by a change in the county
equalization factor by | 19 |
| the Department or in the case of changes resulting
from | 20 |
| equalization by the chief county assessment officer supervisor | 21 |
| of assessments under Section 9-210,
during any year such change | 22 |
| is made. The notice may, but need not be, sent by a
township | 23 |
| assessor. |
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| (b) The notice sent under this Section shall include the | 2 |
| following: | 3 |
| (1) The previous year's assessed value after board of | 4 |
| review equalization. | 5 |
| (2) Current assessed value and the date of that | 6 |
| valuation. | 7 |
| (3) The percentage change from the previous assessed | 8 |
| value to the current assessed value. | 9 |
| (4) The full fair market value (as indicated by | 10 |
| dividing the current assessed value by the median level of | 11 |
| assessment in the assessment district as determined by the | 12 |
| most recent 3 year assessment to sales ratio study adjusted | 13 |
| to take into account any changes in assessment levels since | 14 |
| the data for the studies were collected). | 15 |
| (5) A statement advising the taxpayer that assessments | 16 |
| of property, other than farm land and coal, are required by | 17 |
| law to be assessed at 33 1/3% of fair market value. | 18 |
| (6) The name, address, phone number, office hours, and, | 19 |
| if one exists, the website address of the assessor. | 20 |
| (7) Where practicable, the notice shall include the | 21 |
| reason for any increase in the property's valuation. | 22 |
| (8) The name and price per copy by mail of the | 23 |
| newspaper in which the list of assessments will be | 24 |
| published and the scheduled publication date. | 25 |
| (9) A statement advising the taxpayer of the steps to | 26 |
| follow if the taxpayer believes the full fair market value |
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| of the property is incorrect or believes the assessment is | 2 |
| not uniform with other comparable properties in the same | 3 |
| neighborhood. The statement shall also (i) advise all | 4 |
| taxpayers to contact the township assessor's office first | 5 |
| to review the assessment, (ii) advise all taxpayers to file | 6 |
| an appeal with the board of review if not satisfied with | 7 |
| the assessor review, and (iii) give the phone number to | 8 |
| call for a copy of the board of review rules. | 9 |
| (10) A statement advising the taxpayer that there is a | 10 |
| deadline date for filing an appeal with the board of review | 11 |
| and indicating that deadline date (30 days following the | 12 |
| scheduled publication date). | 13 |
| (11) A brief explanation of the relationship between | 14 |
| the assessment and the tax bill (including an explanation | 15 |
| of the equalization factors) and an explanation that the | 16 |
| assessment stated for the preceding year is the assessment | 17 |
| after equalization by the board of review in the preceding | 18 |
| year. | 19 |
| (12) In bold type, a notice of possible eligibility for | 20 |
| the
various homestead exemptions as provided in Section | 21 |
| 15-165
through Section 15-175 and Section 15-180. | 22 |
| (c) In addition to the requirements of subsection (b) of | 23 |
| this Section, in every county with less than 3,000,000 | 24 |
| inhabitants, where the chief county assessment officer | 25 |
| maintains and controls an electronic database containing the | 26 |
| physical characteristics of the property, the notice shall |
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| include following: | 2 |
| (1) The physical characteristics of the taxpayer's | 3 |
| property that are available from that database; or | 4 |
| (2) A statement advising the taxpayer that detailed | 5 |
| property characteristics are available on the county | 6 |
| website and the URL address of that website. | 7 |
| (d) In addition to the requirements of subsection (b) of | 8 |
| this Section, in every county with less than 3,000,000 | 9 |
| inhabitants, where the chief county assessment officer does not | 10 |
| maintain and control an electronic database containing the | 11 |
| physical characteristics of the property, and where one or more | 12 |
| townships in the county maintain and control an electronic | 13 |
| database containing the physical characteristics of the | 14 |
| property, the notice shall include a statement advising the | 15 |
| taxpayer that detailed property characteristics are available | 16 |
| on the township website and the URL address of that website. | 17 |
| (e) Except as provided in this Section, the form and manner | 18 |
| of
providing the information and explanations required to be in | 19 |
| the notice shall
be prescribed by the Department. | 20 |
| (f) The chief county assessment officer in every county | 21 |
| with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants must provide a | 22 |
| plain-English explanation of all township, county, and State | 23 |
| equalization factors, including the rationale and methods used | 24 |
| to determine the equalizations. If a county Internet website | 25 |
| exists, this explanation must be published thereon, otherwise | 26 |
| it must be available to the public upon request at the office |
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| of the chief county assessment officer. | 2 |
| (g) In addition, the board of review in every county with | 3 |
| less than 3,000,000 inhabitants must make available to the | 4 |
| public a detailed description of the rules and procedures for | 5 |
| hearings before the board. This description must include an | 6 |
| explanation of any applicable burdens of proof, rules of | 7 |
| evidence, timelines, and any other procedures that will allow | 8 |
| the taxpayer to effectively present his or her case before the | 9 |
| board. If a county Internet website exists, the rules and | 10 |
| procedures must also be published on that website. The notice | 11 |
| shall include the median level of assessment in
the assessment | 12 |
| district (as determined by the most recent 3 year assessment to
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| sales ratio study adjusted to take into account any changes in | 14 |
| assessment
levels since the data for the studies were | 15 |
| collected), the previous year's
assessed value after board of | 16 |
| review equalization, current assessed value and,
in bold type, | 17 |
| a notice of possible eligibility for a homestead improvement
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| exemption as provided in Section 15-180.
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| The notice shall include a statement in substantially the | 20 |
| following form:
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| "NOTICE TO TAXPAYER
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| Your property is to be assessed at the median level of | 23 |
| assessment for
your assessment district. You may check the | 24 |
| accuracy of your assessment
by dividing your assessment by the | 25 |
| median level of assessment for your
assessment district. If the | 26 |
| resulting value is greater than the estimated fair
cash value |
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| of your property, you may be over-assessed. If the resulting | 2 |
| value
is less than the estimated fair cash value of your | 3 |
| property, you may be
under-assessed. You may appeal your | 4 |
| assessment to the Board of Review in the
manner described | 5 |
| elsewhere in this notice."
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| The notice shall contain a brief explanation of the | 7 |
| relationship between the
assessment and the tax bill (including | 8 |
| an explanation of the equalization
factors) and an explanation | 9 |
| that the assessment stated for the preceding year
is the | 10 |
| assessment after equalization by the board of review in the | 11 |
| preceding
year, and shall set forth the procedures and time | 12 |
| limits for appealing
assessments and that assessments of | 13 |
| property, other than farm land and coal,
are required by law to | 14 |
| be 33 1/3% of value. Where practicable, the notice
shall | 15 |
| include the reason for any increase in the property's | 16 |
| valuation. The
notice must also state the name and price per | 17 |
| copy by mail of the newspaper in
which the list of assessments | 18 |
| will be published. The form and manner of
providing the | 19 |
| information and explanations required to be in the notice shall
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| be prescribed by the Department.
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| (Source: P.A. 87-1189; 88-455; incorporates 88-321; 88-670, | 22 |
| eff. 12-2-94.)
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| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 24 |
| becoming law.
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