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91_HB1327enr HB1327 Enrolled LRB9104599PTtm 1 AN ACT to amend the Property Tax Code by changing Section 2 15-172. 3 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 4 represented in the General Assembly: 5 Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing 6 Section 15-172 as follows: 7 (35 ILCS 200/15-172) 8 Sec. 15-172. Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead 9 Exemption. 10 (a) This Section may be cited as the Senior Citizens 11 Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption. 12 (b) As used in this Section: 13 "Applicant" means an individual who has filed an 14 application under this Section. 15 "Base amount" means the base year equalized assessed 16 value of the residence plus the first year's equalized 17 assessed value of any added improvements which increased the 18 assessed value of the residence after the base year. 19 "Base year" means the taxable year prior to the taxable 20 year for which the applicant first qualifies and applies for 21 the exemption provided that in the prior taxable year the 22 property was improved with a permanent structure that was 23 occupied as a residence by the applicant who was liable for 24 paying real property taxes on the property and who was either 25 (i) an owner of record of the property or had legal or 26 equitable interest in the property as evidenced by a written 27 instrument or (ii) had a legal or equitable interest as a 28 lessee in the parcel of property that was single family 29 residence. If in any subsequent taxable year for which the 30 applicant applies and qualifies for the exemption the 31 equalized assessed value of the residence is less than the HB1327 Enrolled -2- LRB9104599PTtm 1 equalized assessed value in the existing base year (provided 2 that such equalized assessed value is not based on an 3 assessed value that results from a temporary irregularity in 4 the property that reduces the assessed value for one or more 5 taxable years), then that subsequent taxable year shall 6 become the base year until a new base year is established 7 under the terms of this paragraph. For taxable year 1999 8 only, the Chief County Assessment Officer shall review (i) 9 all taxable years for which the applicant applied and 10 qualified for the exemption and (ii) the existing base year. 11 The assessment officer shall select as the new base year the 12 year with the lowest equalized assessed value. An equalized 13 assessed value that is based on an assessed value that 14 results from a temporary irregularity in the property that 15 reduces the assessed value for one or more taxable years 16 shall not be considered the lowest equalized assessed value. 17 The selected year shall be the base year for taxable year 18 1999 and thereafter until a new base year is established 19 under the terms of this paragraph. 20 "Chief County Assessment Officer" means the County 21 Assessor or Supervisor of Assessments of the county in which 22 the property is located. 23 "Equalized assessed value" means the assessed value as 24 equalized by the Illinois Department of Revenue. 25 "Household" means the applicant, the spouse of the 26 applicant, and all persons using the residence of the 27 applicant as their principal place of residence. 28 "Household income" means the combined income of the 29 members of a household for the calendar year preceding the 30 taxable year. 31 "Income" has the same meaning as provided in Section 3.07 32 of the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax 33 Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act. 34 "Internal Revenue Code of 1986" means the United States HB1327 Enrolled -3- LRB9104599PTtm 1 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any successor law or laws 2 relating to federal income taxes in effect for the year 3 preceding the taxable year. 4 "Life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative" 5 means a facility as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care 6 Facilities Act. 7 "Residence" means the principal dwelling place and 8 appurtenant structures used for residential purposes in this 9 State occupied on January 1 of the taxable year by a 10 household and so much of the surrounding land, constituting 11 the parcel upon which the dwelling place is situated, as is 12 used for residential purposes. If the Chief County Assessment 13 Officer has established a specific legal description for a 14 portion of property constituting the residence, then that 15 portion of property shall be deemed the residence for the 16 purposes of this Section. 17 "Taxable year" means the calendar year during which ad 18 valorem property taxes payable in the next succeeding year 19 are levied. 20 (c) Beginning in taxable year 1994, a senior citizens 21 assessment freeze homestead exemption is granted for real 22 property that is improved with a permanent structure that is 23 occupied as a residence by an applicant who (i) is 65 years 24 of age or older during the taxable year, (ii) has a household 25 income of $35,000 or less, (iii) is liable for paying real 26 property taxes on the property, and (iv) is an owner of 27 record of the property or has a legal or equitable interest 28 in the property as evidenced by a written instrument. This 29 homestead exemption shall also apply to a leasehold interest 30 in a parcel of property improved with a permanent structure 31 that is a single family residence that is occupied as a 32 residence by a person who (i) is 65 years of age or older 33 during the taxable year, (ii) has a household income of 34 $35,000 or less, (iii) has a legal or equitable ownership HB1327 Enrolled -4- LRB9104599PTtm 1 interest in the property as lessee, and (iv) is liable for 2 the payment of real property taxes on that property. 3 The amount of this exemption shall be the equalized 4 assessed value of the residence in the taxable year for which 5 application is made minus the base amount. 6 When the applicant is a surviving spouse of an applicant 7 for a prior year for the same residence for which an 8 exemption under this Section has been granted, the base year 9 and base amount for that residence are the same as for the 10 applicant for the prior year. 11 Each year at the time the assessment books are certified 12 to the County Clerk, the Board of Review or Board of Appeals 13 shall give to the County Clerk a list of the assessed values 14 of improvements on each parcel qualifying for this exemption 15 that were added after the base year for this parcel and that 16 increased the assessed value of the property. 17 In the case of land improved with an apartment building 18 owned and operated as a cooperative or a building that is a 19 life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative, the 20 maximum reduction from the equalized assessed value of the 21 property is limited to the sum of the reductions calculated 22 for each unit occupied as a residence by a person or persons 23 65 years of age or older with a household income of $35,000 24 or less who is liable, by contract with the owner or owners 25 of record, for paying real property taxes on the property and 26 who is an owner of record of a legal or equitable interest in 27 the cooperative apartment building, other than a leasehold 28 interest. In the instance of a cooperative where a homestead 29 exemption has been granted under this Section, the 30 cooperative association or its management firm shall credit 31 the savings resulting from that exemption only to the 32 apportioned tax liability of the owner who qualified for the 33 exemption. Any person who willfully refuses to credit that 34 savings to an owner who qualifies for the exemption is guilty HB1327 Enrolled -5- LRB9104599PTtm 1 of a Class B misdemeanor. 2 When a homestead exemption has been granted under this 3 Section and an applicant then becomes a resident of a 4 facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act, the 5 exemption shall be granted in subsequent years so long as the 6 residence (i) continues to be occupied by the qualified 7 applicant's spouse or (ii) if remaining unoccupied, is still 8 owned by the qualified applicant for the homestead exemption. 9 Beginning January 1, 1997, when an individual dies who 10 would have qualified for an exemption under this Section, and 11 the surviving spouse does not independently qualify for this 12 exemption because of age, the exemption under this Section 13 shall be granted to the surviving spouse for the taxable year 14 preceding and the taxable year of the death, provided that, 15 except for age, the surviving spouse meets all other 16 qualifications for the granting of this exemption for those 17 years. 18 When married persons maintain separate residences, the 19 exemption provided for in this Section may be claimed by only 20 one of such persons and for only one residence. 21 For taxable year 1994 only, in counties having less than 22 3,000,000 inhabitants, to receive the exemption, a person 23 shall submit an application by February 15, 1995 to the Chief 24 County Assessment Officer of the county in which the property 25 is located. In counties having 3,000,000 or more 26 inhabitants, for taxable year 1994 and all subsequent taxable 27 years, to receive the exemption, a person may submit an 28 application to the Chief County Assessment Officer of the 29 county in which the property is located during such period as 30 may be specified by the Chief County Assessment Officer. The 31 Chief County Assessment Officer in counties of 3,000,000 or 32 more inhabitants shall annually give notice of the 33 application period by mail or by publication. In counties 34 having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, beginning with HB1327 Enrolled -6- LRB9104599PTtm 1 taxable year 1995 and thereafter, to receive the exemption, a 2 person shall submit an application by July 1 of each taxable 3 year to the Chief County Assessment Officer of the county in 4 which the property is located. A county may, by ordinance, 5 establish a date for submission of applications that is 6 different than July 1. The applicant shall submit with the 7 application an affidavit of the applicant's total household 8 income, age, marital status (and if married the name and 9 address of the applicant's spouse, if known), and principal 10 dwelling place of members of the household on January 1 of 11 the taxable year. The Department shall establish, by rule, a 12 method for verifying the accuracy of affidavits filed by 13 applicants under this Section. The applications shall be 14 clearly marked as applications for the Senior Citizens 15 Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption. 16 Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, in 17 counties having fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an 18 applicant fails to file the application required by this 19 Section in a timely manner and this failure to file is due to 20 a mental or physical condition sufficiently severe so as to 21 render the applicant incapable of filing the application in a 22 timely manner, the Chief County Assessment Officer may extend 23 the filing deadline for a period of 30 days after the 24 applicant regains the capability to file the application, but 25 in no case may the filing deadline be extended beyond 3 26 months of the original filing deadline. In order to receive 27 the extension provided in this paragraph, the applicant shall 28 provide the Chief County Assessment Officer with a signed 29 statement from the applicant's physician stating the nature 30 and extent of the condition, that, in the physician's 31 opinion, the condition was so severe that it rendered the 32 applicant incapable of filing the application in a timely 33 manner, and the date on which the applicant regained the 34 capability to file the application. HB1327 Enrolled -7- LRB9104599PTtm 1 Beginning January 1, 1998, notwithstanding any other 2 provision to the contrary, in counties having fewer than 3 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an applicant fails to file the 4 application required by this Section in a timely manner and 5 this failure to file is due to a mental or physical condition 6 sufficiently severe so as to render the applicant incapable 7 of filing the application in a timely manner, the Chief 8 County Assessment Officer may extend the filing deadline for 9 a period of 3 months. In order to receive the extension 10 provided in this paragraph, the applicant shall provide the 11 Chief County Assessment Officer with a signed statement from 12 the applicant's physician stating the nature and extent of 13 the condition, and that, in the physician's opinion, the 14 condition was so severe that it rendered the applicant 15 incapable of filing the application in a timely manner. 16 In counties having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an 17 applicant was denied an exemption in taxable year 1994 and 18 the denial occurred due to an error on the part of an 19 assessment official, or his or her agent or employee, then 20 beginning in taxable year 1997 the applicant's base year, for 21 purposes of determining the amount of the exemption, shall be 22 1993 rather than 1994. In addition, in taxable year 1997, the 23 applicant's exemption shall also include an amount equal to 24 (i) the amount of any exemption denied to the applicant in 25 taxable year 1995 as a result of using 1994, rather than 26 1993, as the base year, (ii) the amount of any exemption 27 denied to the applicant in taxable year 1996 as a result of 28 using 1994, rather than 1993, as the base year, and (iii) the 29 amount of the exemption erroneously denied for taxable year 30 1994. 31 For purposes of this Section, a person who will be 65 32 years of age during the current taxable year shall be 33 eligible to apply for the homestead exemption during that 34 taxable year. Application shall be made during the HB1327 Enrolled -8- LRB9104599PTtm 1 application period in effect for the county of his or her 2 residence. 3 The Chief County Assessment Officer may determine the 4 eligibility of a life care facility that qualifies as a 5 cooperative to receive the benefits provided by this Section 6 by use of an affidavit, application, visual inspection, 7 questionnaire, or other reasonable method in order to insure 8 that the tax savings resulting from the exemption are 9 credited by the management firm to the apportioned tax 10 liability of each qualifying resident. The Chief County 11 Assessment Officer may request reasonable proof that the 12 management firm has so credited that exemption. 13 Except as provided in this Section, all information 14 received by the chief county assessment officer or the 15 Department from applications filed under this Section, or 16 from any investigation conducted under the provisions of this 17 Section, shall be confidential, except for official purposes 18 or pursuant to official procedures for collection of any 19 State or local tax or enforcement of any civil or criminal 20 penalty or sanction imposed by this Act or by any statute or 21 ordinance imposing a State or local tax. Any person who 22 divulges any such information in any manner, except in 23 accordance with a proper judicial order, is guilty of a Class 24 A misdemeanor. 25 Nothing contained in this Section shall prevent the 26 Director or chief county assessment officer from publishing 27 or making available reasonable statistics concerning the 28 operation of the exemption contained in this Section in which 29 the contents of claims are grouped into aggregates in such a 30 way that information contained in any individual claim shall 31 not be disclosed. 32 (d) Each Chief County Assessment Officer shall annually 33 publish a notice of availability of the exemption provided 34 under this Section. The notice shall be published at least HB1327 Enrolled -9- LRB9104599PTtm 1 60 days but no more than 75 days prior to the date on which 2 the application must be submitted to the Chief County 3 Assessment Officer of the county in which the property is 4 located. The notice shall appear in a newspaper of general 5 circulation in the county. 6 (Source: P.A. 89-62, eff. 1-1-96; 89-426, eff. 6-1-96; 7 89-557, eff. 1-1-97; 89-581, eff. 1-1-97; 89-626, eff. 8 8-9-96; 90-14, eff. 7-1-97; 90-204, eff. 7-25-97; 90-523, 9 eff. 11-13-97; 90-524, eff. 1-1-98; 90-531, eff. 1-1-98; 10 90-655, eff. 7-30-98.) 11 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 12 becoming law.