093_SB0466eng SB466 Engrossed LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 AN ACT regarding disabled persons. 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 14-20 and 15-172 as follows: 6 (35 ILCS 200/14-20) 7 Sec. 14-20. Certificate of error; counties of less than 8 3,000,000. In any county with less than 3,000,000 9 inhabitants, if, at any time before judgment or order of sale 10 is entered in any proceeding to collect or to enjoin the 11 collection of taxes based upon any assessment of any 12 property, the chief county assessment officer discovers an 13 error or mistake in the assessment (other than errors of 14 judgment as to the valuation of the property), he or she 15 shall issue to the person erroneously assessed a certificate 16 setting forth the nature of the error and the cause or causes 17 of the error. In any county with less than 3,000,000 18 inhabitants, if an owner fails to file an application for the 19 Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Assessment Freeze 20 Homestead Exemption provided in Section 15-172 during the 21 previous assessment year and qualifies for the exemption, the 22 Chief County Assessment Officer pursuant to this Section, or 23 the Board of Review pursuant to Section 16-75, shall issue a 24 certificate of error setting forth the correct taxable 25 valuation of the property. The certificate, when properly 26 endorsed by the majority of the board of review, showing 27 their concurrence, and not otherwise, may be used in evidence 28 in any court of competent jurisdiction, and when so 29 introduced in evidence, shall become a part of the court 30 record and shall not be removed from the files except on an 31 order of the court. SB466 Engrossed -2- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 (Source: P.A. 90-552, eff. 12-12-97; 91-377, eff. 7-30-99.) 2 (35 ILCS 200/15-172) 3 Sec. 15-172. Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons 4 Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption. 5 (a) This Section may be cited as the Senior Citizens and 6 Disabled Persons Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption. 7 (b) As used in this Section: 8 "Applicant" means an individual who has filed an 9 application under this Section. 10 "Base amount" means the base year equalized assessed 11 value of the residence plus the first year's equalized 12 assessed value of any added improvements which increased the 13 assessed value of the residence after the base year. 14 "Base year" means the taxable year prior to the taxable 15 year for which the applicant first qualifies and applies for 16 the exemption provided that in the prior taxable year the 17 property was improved with a permanent structure that was 18 occupied as a residence by the applicant who was liable for 19 paying real property taxes on the property and who was either 20 (i) an owner of record of the property or had legal or 21 equitable interest in the property as evidenced by a written 22 instrument or (ii) had a legal or equitable interest as a 23 lessee in the parcel of property that was single family 24 residence. If in any subsequent taxable year for which the 25 applicant applies and qualifies for the exemption the 26 equalized assessed value of the residence is less than the 27 equalized assessed value in the existing base year (provided 28 that such equalized assessed value is not based on an 29 assessed value that results from a temporary irregularity in 30 the property that reduces the assessed value for one or more 31 taxable years), then that subsequent taxable year shall 32 become the base year until a new base year is established 33 under the terms of this paragraph. For taxable year 1999 SB466 Engrossed -3- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 only, the Chief County Assessment Officer shall review (i) 2 all taxable years for which the applicant applied and 3 qualified for the exemption and (ii) the existing base year. 4 The assessment officer shall select as the new base year the 5 year with the lowest equalized assessed value. An equalized 6 assessed value that is based on an assessed value that 7 results from a temporary irregularity in the property that 8 reduces the assessed value for one or more taxable years 9 shall not be considered the lowest equalized assessed value. 10 The selected year shall be the base year for taxable year 11 1999 and thereafter until a new base year is established 12 under the terms of this paragraph. 13 "Chief County Assessment Officer" means the County 14 Assessor or Supervisor of Assessments of the county in which 15 the property is located. 16 "Disabled person" means a person unable to engage in any 17 substantial gainful activity by reason of a medically 18 determinable physical or mental impairment that (i) can be 19 expected to result in death or (ii) has lasted or can be 20 expected to last for a continuous period of not less than 12 21 months. Disabled persons applying for the exemption under 22 this Section must submit proof of the disability in the 23 manner prescribed by the chief county assessment officer. 24 Proof that an applicant is eligible to receive disability 25 benefits under the federal Social Security Act constitutes 26 proof of disability for purposes of this Section. Issuance 27 of an Illinois Disabled Person Identification Card to the 28 applicant stating that the possessor is under a Class 2 29 disability, as defined in Section 4A of the Illinois 30 Identification Card Act, constitutes proof that the person is 31 a disabled person for purposes of this Section. 32 "Equalized assessed value" means the assessed value as 33 equalized by the Illinois Department of Revenue. 34 "Household" means the applicant, the spouse of the SB466 Engrossed -4- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 applicant, and all persons using the residence of the 2 applicant as their principal place of residence. 3 "Household income" means the combined income of the 4 members of a household for the calendar year preceding the 5 taxable year. 6 "Income" has the same meaning as provided in Section 3.07 7 of the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax 8 Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act, except that, 9 beginning in assessment year 2001, "income" does not include 10 veteran's benefits. 11 "Internal Revenue Code of 1986" means the United States 12 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any successor law or laws 13 relating to federal income taxes in effect for the year 14 preceding the taxable year. 15 "Life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative" 16 means a facility as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care 17 Facilities Act. 18 "Residence" means the principal dwelling place and 19 appurtenant structures used for residential purposes in this 20 State occupied on January 1 of the taxable year by a 21 household and so much of the surrounding land, constituting 22 the parcel upon which the dwelling place is situated, as is 23 used for residential purposes. If the Chief County Assessment 24 Officer has established a specific legal description for a 25 portion of property constituting the residence, then that 26 portion of property shall be deemed the residence for the 27 purposes of this Section. 28 "Taxable year" means the calendar year during which ad 29 valorem property taxes payable in the next succeeding year 30 are levied. 31 (c) Beginning in (1) taxable year 1994, forasenior 32 citizens and (2) taxable year 2003, for disabled persons, an 33 assessment freeze homestead exemption is granted for real 34 property that is improved with a permanent structure that is SB466 Engrossed -5- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 occupied as a residence by an applicant who (i) is 65 years 2 of age or older, or disabled, during the taxable year, (ii) 3 has a household income of $35,000 or less prior to taxable 4 year 1999 or $40,000 or less in taxable year 1999 and 5 thereafter, (iii) is liable for paying real property taxes on 6 the property, and (iv) is an owner of record of the property 7 or has a legal or equitable interest in the property as 8 evidenced by a written instrument. This homestead exemption 9 shall also apply to a leasehold interest in a parcel of 10 property improved with a permanent structure that is a single 11 family residence that is occupied as a residence by a person 12 who (i) is 65 years of age or older, or disabled, during the 13 taxable year, (ii) has a household income of $35,000 or less 14 prior to taxable year 1999 or $40,000 or less in taxable year 15 1999 and thereafter, (iii) has a legal or equitable ownership 16 interest in the property as lessee, and (iv) is liable for 17 the payment of real property taxes on that property. 18 The amount of this exemption shall be the equalized 19 assessed value of the residence in the taxable year for which 20 application is made minus the base amount. 21 When the applicant is a surviving spouse of an applicant 22 for a prior year for the same residence for which an 23 exemption under this Section has been granted, the base year 24 and base amount for that residence are the same as for the 25 applicant for the prior year. 26 Each year at the time the assessment books are certified 27 to the County Clerk, the Board of Review or Board of Appeals 28 shall give to the County Clerk a list of the assessed values 29 of improvements on each parcel qualifying for this exemption 30 that were added after the base year for this parcel and that 31 increased the assessed value of the property. 32 In the case of land improved with an apartment building 33 owned and operated as a cooperative or a building that is a 34 life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative, the SB466 Engrossed -6- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 maximum reduction from the equalized assessed value of the 2 property is limited to the sum of the reductions calculated 3 for each unit occupied as a residence by a person or persons 4 65 years of age or older, or disabled, with a household 5 income of $35,000 or less prior to taxable year 1999 or 6 $40,000 or less in taxable year 1999 and thereafter who is 7 liable, by contract with the owner or owners of record, for 8 paying real property taxes on the property and who is an 9 owner of record of a legal or equitable interest in the 10 cooperative apartment building, other than a leasehold 11 interest. In the instance of a cooperative where a homestead 12 exemption has been granted under this Section, the 13 cooperative association or its management firm shall credit 14 the savings resulting from that exemption only to the 15 apportioned tax liability of the owner who qualified for the 16 exemption. Any person who willfully refuses to credit that 17 savings to an owner who qualifies for the exemption is guilty 18 of a Class B misdemeanor. 19 When a homestead exemption has been granted under this 20 Section and an applicant then becomes a resident of a 21 facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act, the 22 exemption shall be granted in subsequent years so long as the 23 residence (i) continues to be occupied by the qualified 24 applicant's spouse or (ii) if remaining unoccupied, is still 25 owned by the qualified applicant for the homestead exemption. 26 Beginning January 1, 1997 for senior citizens and January 27 1, 2004 for disabled persons, when an individual dies who 28 would have qualified for an exemption under this Section, and 29 the surviving spouse does not independently qualify for this 30 exemption because of age or nondisability, the exemption 31 under this Section shall be granted to the surviving spouse 32 for the taxable year preceding and the taxable year of the 33 death, provided that, except for age or nondisability, the 34 surviving spouse meets all other qualifications for the SB466 Engrossed -7- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 granting of this exemption for those years. 2 When married persons maintain separate residences, the 3 exemption provided for in this Section may be claimed by only 4 one of such persons and for only one residence. 5 For taxable year 1994 only, in counties having less than 6 3,000,000 inhabitants, to receive the exemption, a person 7 shall submit an application by February 15, 1995 to the Chief 8 County Assessment Officer of the county in which the property 9 is located. In counties having 3,000,000 or more 10 inhabitants, for taxable year 1994 and all subsequent taxable 11 years, to receive the exemption, a person may submit an 12 application to the Chief County Assessment Officer of the 13 county in which the property is located during such period as 14 may be specified by the Chief County Assessment Officer. The 15 Chief County Assessment Officer in counties of 3,000,000 or 16 more inhabitants shall annually give notice of the 17 application period by mail or by publication. In counties 18 having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, beginning with 19 taxable year 1995 and thereafter, to receive the exemption, a 20 person shall submit an application by July 1 of each taxable 21 year to the Chief County Assessment Officer of the county in 22 which the property is located. A county may, by ordinance, 23 establish a date for submission of applications that is 24 different than July 1. The applicant shall submit with the 25 application an affidavit of the applicant's total household 26 income, age, marital status (and if married the name and 27 address of the applicant's spouse, if known), disability (if 28 applying for the exemption as a disabled person), and 29 principal dwelling place of members of the household on 30 January 1 of the taxable year. The Department shall 31 establish, by rule, a method for verifying the accuracy of 32 affidavits filed by applicants under this Section. The 33 applications shall be clearly marked as applications for the 34 Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Assessment Freeze SB466 Engrossed -8- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 Homestead Exemption. 2 Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, in 3 counties having fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an 4 applicant fails to file the application required by this 5 Section in a timely manner and this failure to file is due to 6 a mental or physical condition sufficiently severe so as to 7 render the applicant incapable of filing the application in a 8 timely manner, the Chief County Assessment Officer may extend 9 the filing deadline for a period of 30 days after the 10 applicant regains the capability to file the application, but 11 in no case may the filing deadline be extended beyond 3 12 months of the original filing deadline. In order to receive 13 the extension provided in this paragraph, the applicant shall 14 provide the Chief County Assessment Officer with a signed 15 statement from the applicant's physician stating the nature 16 and extent of the condition, that, in the physician's 17 opinion, the condition was so severe that it rendered the 18 applicant incapable of filing the application in a timely 19 manner, and the date on which the applicant regained the 20 capability to file the application. 21 Beginning January 1, 1998, notwithstanding any other 22 provision to the contrary, in counties having fewer than 23 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an applicant fails to file the 24 application required by this Section in a timely manner and 25 this failure to file is due to a mental or physical condition 26 sufficiently severe so as to render the applicant incapable 27 of filing the application in a timely manner, the Chief 28 County Assessment Officer may extend the filing deadline for 29 a period of 3 months. In order to receive the extension 30 provided in this paragraph, the applicant shall provide the 31 Chief County Assessment Officer with a signed statement from 32 the applicant's physician stating the nature and extent of 33 the condition, and that, in the physician's opinion, the 34 condition was so severe that it rendered the applicant SB466 Engrossed -9- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 incapable of filing the application in a timely manner. 2 In counties having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an 3 applicant was denied an exemption in taxable year 1994 and 4 the denial occurred due to an error on the part of an 5 assessment official, or his or her agent or employee, then 6 beginning in taxable year 1997 the applicant's base year, for 7 purposes of determining the amount of the exemption, shall be 8 1993 rather than 1994. In addition, in taxable year 1997, the 9 applicant's exemption shall also include an amount equal to 10 (i) the amount of any exemption denied to the applicant in 11 taxable year 1995 as a result of using 1994, rather than 12 1993, as the base year, (ii) the amount of any exemption 13 denied to the applicant in taxable year 1996 as a result of 14 using 1994, rather than 1993, as the base year, and (iii) the 15 amount of the exemption erroneously denied for taxable year 16 1994. 17 For purposes of this Section, a person who will be 65 18 years of age or is disabled during the current taxable year 19 shall be eligible to apply for the homestead exemption during 20 that taxable year. Application shall be made during the 21 application period in effect for the county of his or her 22 residence. 23 The Chief County Assessment Officer may determine the 24 eligibility of a life care facility that qualifies as a 25 cooperative to receive the benefits provided by this Section 26 by use of an affidavit, application, visual inspection, 27 questionnaire, or other reasonable method in order to insure 28 that the tax savings resulting from the exemption are 29 credited by the management firm to the apportioned tax 30 liability of each qualifying resident. The Chief County 31 Assessment Officer may request reasonable proof that the 32 management firm has so credited that exemption. 33 Except as provided in this Section, all information 34 received by the chief county assessment officer or the SB466 Engrossed -10- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 Department from applications filed under this Section, or 2 from any investigation conducted under the provisions of this 3 Section, shall be confidential, except for official purposes 4 or pursuant to official procedures for collection of any 5 State or local tax or enforcement of any civil or criminal 6 penalty or sanction imposed by this Act or by any statute or 7 ordinance imposing a State or local tax. Any person who 8 divulges any such information in any manner, except in 9 accordance with a proper judicial order, is guilty of a Class 10 A misdemeanor. 11 Nothing contained in this Section shall prevent the 12 Director or chief county assessment officer from publishing 13 or making available reasonable statistics concerning the 14 operation of the exemption contained in this Section in which 15 the contents of claims are grouped into aggregates in such a 16 way that information contained in any individual claim shall 17 not be disclosed. 18 (d) Each Chief County Assessment Officer shall annually 19 publish a notice of availability of the exemption provided 20 under this Section. The notice shall be published at least 21 60 days but no more than 75 days prior to the date on which 22 the application must be submitted to the Chief County 23 Assessment Officer of the county in which the property is 24 located. The notice shall appear in a newspaper of general 25 circulation in the county. 26 (e) Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of the State 27 Mandates Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for 28 the implementation of any mandate created by this Section. 29 (Source: P.A. 90-14, eff. 7-1-97; 90-204, eff. 7-25-97; 30 90-523, eff. 11-13-97; 90-524, eff. 1-1-98; 90-531, eff. 31 1-1-98; 90-655, eff. 7-30-98; 91-45, eff. 6-30-99; 91-56, 32 eff. 6-30-99; 91-819, eff. 6-13-00.) 33 Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding SB466 Engrossed -11- LRB093 10668 SJM 11009 b 1 Section 8.27 as follows: 2 (30 ILCS 805/8.27 new) 3 Sec. 8.27. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 4 and 8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required 5 for the implementation of any mandate created by Section 6 15-172 of the Property Tax Code. 7 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 8 becoming law.