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92_SB0450eng SB450 Engrossed LRB9204369SMtm 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 Sections 23-15 and 23-30 as follows: 6 (35 ILCS 200/23-15) 7 Sec. 23-15. Tax objection procedure and hearing. 8 (a) A tax objection complaint under Section 23-10 shall 9 be filed in the circuit court of the county in which the 10 subject property is located. Joinder of plaintiffs shall be 11 permitted to the same extent permitted by law in any personal 12 action pending in the court and shall be in accordance with 13 Section 2-404 of the Code of Civil Procedure; provided, 14 however, that no complaint shall be filed as a class action. 15 The complaint shall name the county collector as defendant 16 and shall specify any objections that the plaintiff may have 17 to the taxes in question. No appearance or answer by the 18 county collector to the tax objection complaint, nor any 19 further pleadings, need be filed. Amendments to the complaint 20 may be made to the same extent which, by law, could be made 21 in any personal action pending in the court. A taxing 22 district may intervene in any case in which an objection is 23 filed against the taxing district's levy by filing an 24 appearance in the case and providing notice and a copy of the 25 appearance to the objector and the State's Attorney. Upon the 26 filing of an appearance by a taxing district, the taxing 27 district shall be responsible for defending its tax levy, and 28 the State's Attorney shall be relieved of the defense. 29 (b) (1) The court, sitting without a jury, shall hear 30 and determine all objections specified to the taxes, 31 assessments, or levies in question. This Section shall be SB450 Engrossed -2- LRB9204369SMtm 1 construed to provide a complete remedy for any claims with 2 respect to those taxes, assessments, or levies, excepting 3 only matters for which an exclusive remedy is provided 4 elsewhere in this Code. 5 (2) The taxes, assessments, and levies that are the 6 subject of the objection shall be presumed correct and legal, 7 but the presumption is rebuttable. The plaintiff has the 8 burden of proving any contested matter of fact by clear and 9 convincing evidence. 10 (3) Objections to assessments shall be heard de novo by 11 the court. The court shall grant relief in the cases in which 12 the objector meets the burden of proof under this Section and 13 shows an assessment to be incorrect or illegal. If an 14 objection is made claiming incorrect valuation, the court 15 shall consider the objection without regard to the 16 correctness of any practice, procedure, or method of 17 valuation followed by the assessor, board of appeals, or 18 board of review in making or reviewing the assessment, and 19 without regard to the intent or motivation of any assessing 20 official. The doctrine known as constructive fraud is hereby 21 abolished for purposes of all challenges to taxes, 22 assessments, or levies. 23 (c) If the court orders a refund of any part of the 24 taxes paid, it shall also order the payment of interest as 25 provided in Section 23-20. Appeals may be taken from final 26 judgments as in other civil cases. 27 (d) This amendatory Act of 1995 shall apply to all tax 28 objection matters still pending for any tax year, except as 29 provided in Sections 23-5 and 23-10 regarding procedures and 30 time limitations for payment of taxes and filing tax 31 objection complaints. 32 (e) In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if 33 the court renders a decision lowering the assessment of a 34 particular parcel on which a residence occupied by the owner SB450 Engrossed -3- LRB9204369SMtm 1 is situated, the reduced assessment, subject to equalization, 2 shall remain in effect for the remainder of the general 3 assessment period as provided in Sections 9-215 through 4 9-225, unless that parcel is subsequently sold in an arm's 5 length transaction establishing a fair cash value for the 6 parcel that is different from the fair cash value on which 7 the court's assessment is based, or unless the decision of 8 the court is reversed or modified upon review. 9 (Source: P.A. 88-455; 88-642, eff. 9-9-94; 89-126, eff. 10 7-11-95; 89-290, eff. 1-1-96; 89-593, eff. 8-1-96; 89-626, 11 eff. 8-9-96.) 12 (35 ILCS 200/23-30) 13 Sec. 23-30. Conference on tax objection. Following the 14 filing of an objection under Section 23-10, the court may 15 hold a conference with the objector and the State's Attorney 16 or, if a taxing district has filed an appearance in the case, 17 with the objector and the taxing district. Compromise 18 agreements on tax objections reached by conference shall be 19 filed with the court, and the parties shall prepare an order 20 covering the settlement and submit the order to the court for 21 entry. 22 (Source: P.A. 88-455; 89-126, eff. 7-11-95.) 23 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 24 becoming law.