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91_HB2679eng HB2679 Engrossed LRB9104128PTpk 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 HB2679 Engrossed -2- LRB9104128PTpk 1 equalized assessed value in the existing base year, then that 2 subsequent taxable year shall become the base year until a 3 new base year is established under the terms of this 4 paragraph. For taxable year 1999 only, the Chief County 5 Assessment Officer shall review (i) all taxable years for 6 which the applicant applied and qualified for the exemption 7 and (ii) the existing base year. The assessment officer 8 shall select as the new base year the year with the lowest 9 equalized assessed value. The selected year shall be the 10 base year for taxable year 1999 and thereafter until a new 11 base year is established under the terms of this paragraph. 12 "Chief County Assessment Officer" means the County 13 Assessor or Supervisor of Assessments of the county in which 14 the property is located. 15 "Equalized assessed value" means the assessed value as 16 equalized by the Illinois Department of Revenue. 17 "Household" means the applicant, the spouse of the 18 applicant, and all persons using the residence of the 19 applicant as their principal place of residence. 20 "Household income" means the combined income of the 21 members of a household for the calendar year preceding the 22 taxable year. 23 "Income" has the same meaning as provided in Section 3.07 24 of the Senior Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax 25 Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance Act. 26 "Internal Revenue Code of 1986" means the United States 27 Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any successor law or laws 28 relating to federal income taxes in effect for the year 29 preceding the taxable year. 30 "Life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative" 31 means a facility as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care 32 Facilities Act. 33 "Residence" means the principal dwelling place and 34 appurtenant structures used for residential purposes in this HB2679 Engrossed -3- LRB9104128PTpk 1 State occupied on January 1 of the taxable year by a 2 household and so much of the surrounding land, constituting 3 the parcel upon which the dwelling place is situated, as is 4 used for residential purposes. If the Chief County Assessment 5 Officer has established a specific legal description for a 6 portion of property constituting the residence, then that 7 portion of property shall be deemed the residence for the 8 purposes of this Section. 9 "Taxable year" means the calendar year during which ad 10 valorem property taxes payable in the next succeeding year 11 are levied. 12 (c) Beginning in taxable year 1994, a senior citizens 13 assessment freeze homestead exemption is granted for real 14 property that is improved with a permanent structure that is 15 occupied as a residence by an applicant who (i) is 65 years 16 of age or older during the taxable year, (ii) has a household 17 income of $35,000 or less, (iii) is liable for paying real 18 property taxes on the property, and (iv) is an owner of 19 record of the property or has a legal or equitable interest 20 in the property as evidenced by a written instrument. This 21 homestead exemption shall also apply to a leasehold interest 22 in a parcel of property improved with a permanent structure 23 that is a single family residence that is occupied as a 24 residence by a person who (i) is 65 years of age or older 25 during the taxable year, (ii) has a household income of 26 $35,000 or less, (iii) has a legal or equitable ownership 27 interest in the property as lessee, and (iv) is liable for 28 the payment of real property taxes on that property. 29 The amount of this exemption shall be the equalized 30 assessed value of the residence in the taxable year for which 31 application is made minus the base amount. 32 When the applicant is a surviving spouse of an applicant 33 for a prior year for the same residence for which an 34 exemption under this Section has been granted, the base year HB2679 Engrossed -4- LRB9104128PTpk 1 and base amount for that residence are the same as for the 2 applicant for the prior year. 3 Each year at the time the assessment books are certified 4 to the County Clerk, the Board of Review or Board of Appeals 5 shall give to the County Clerk a list of the assessed values 6 of improvements on each parcel qualifying for this exemption 7 that were added after the base year for this parcel and that 8 increased the assessed value of the property. 9 In the case of land improved with an apartment building 10 owned and operated as a cooperative or a building that is a 11 life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative, the 12 maximum reduction from the equalized assessed value of the 13 property is limited to the sum of the reductions calculated 14 for each unit occupied as a residence by a person or persons 15 65 years of age or older with a household income of $35,000 16 or less who is liable, by contract with the owner or owners 17 of record, for paying real property taxes on the property and 18 who is an owner of record of a legal or equitable interest in 19 the cooperative apartment building, other than a leasehold 20 interest. In the instance of a cooperative where a homestead 21 exemption has been granted under this Section, the 22 cooperative association or its management firm shall credit 23 the savings resulting from that exemption only to the 24 apportioned tax liability of the owner who qualified for the 25 exemption. Any person who willfully refuses to credit that 26 savings to an owner who qualifies for the exemption is guilty 27 of a Class B misdemeanor. 28 When a homestead exemption has been granted under this 29 Section and an applicant then becomes a resident of a 30 facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care Act, the 31 exemption shall be granted in subsequent years so long as the 32 residence (i) continues to be occupied by the qualified 33 applicant's spouse or (ii) if remaining unoccupied, is still 34 owned by the qualified applicant for the homestead exemption. HB2679 Engrossed -5- LRB9104128PTpk 1 Beginning January 1, 1997, when an individual dies who 2 would have qualified for an exemption under this Section, and 3 the surviving spouse does not independently qualify for this 4 exemption because of age, the exemption under this Section 5 shall be granted to the surviving spouse for the taxable year 6 preceding and the taxable year of the death, provided that, 7 except for age, the surviving spouse meets all other 8 qualifications for the granting of this exemption for those 9 years. 10 When married persons maintain separate residences, the 11 exemption provided for in this Section may be claimed by only 12 one of such persons and for only one residence. 13 For taxable year 1994 only, in counties having less than 14 3,000,000 inhabitants, to receive the exemption, a person 15 shall submit an application by February 15, 1995 to the Chief 16 County Assessment Officer of the county in which the property 17 is located. In counties having 3,000,000 or more 18 inhabitants, for taxable year 1994 and all subsequent taxable 19 years, to receive the exemption, a person may submit an 20 application to the Chief County Assessment Officer of the 21 county in which the property is located during such period as 22 may be specified by the Chief County Assessment Officer. The 23 Chief County Assessment Officer in counties of 3,000,000 or 24 more inhabitants shall annually give notice of the 25 application period by mail or by publication. In counties 26 having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, beginning with 27 taxable year 1995 and thereafter, to receive the exemption, a 28 person shall submit an application by July 1 of each taxable 29 year to the Chief County Assessment Officer of the county in 30 which the property is located. A county may, by ordinance, 31 establish a date for submission of applications that is 32 different than July 1. The applicant shall submit with the 33 application an affidavit of the applicant's total household 34 income, age, marital status (and if married the name and HB2679 Engrossed -6- LRB9104128PTpk 1 address of the applicant's spouse, if known), and principal 2 dwelling place of members of the household on January 1 of 3 the taxable year. The Department shall establish, by rule, a 4 method for verifying the accuracy of affidavits filed by 5 applicants under this Section. The applications shall be 6 clearly marked as applications for the Senior Citizens 7 Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption. 8 Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, in 9 counties having fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an 10 applicant fails to file the application required by this 11 Section in a timely manner and this failure to file is due to 12 a mental or physical condition sufficiently severe so as to 13 render the applicant incapable of filing the application in a 14 timely manner, the Chief County Assessment Officer may extend 15 the filing deadline for a period of 30 days after the 16 applicant regains the capability to file the application, but 17 in no case may the filing deadline be extended beyond 3 18 months of the original filing deadline. In order to receive 19 the extension provided in this paragraph, the applicant shall 20 provide the Chief County Assessment Officer with a signed 21 statement from the applicant's physician stating the nature 22 and extent of the condition, that, in the physician's 23 opinion, the condition was so severe that it rendered the 24 applicant incapable of filing the application in a timely 25 manner, and the date on which the applicant regained the 26 capability to file the application. 27 Beginning January 1, 1998, notwithstanding any other 28 provision to the contrary, in counties having fewer than 29 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an applicant fails to file the 30 application required by this Section in a timely manner and 31 this failure to file is due to a mental or physical condition 32 sufficiently severe so as to render the applicant incapable 33 of filing the application in a timely manner, the Chief 34 County Assessment Officer may extend the filing deadline for HB2679 Engrossed -7- LRB9104128PTpk 1 a period of 3 months. In order to receive the extension 2 provided in this paragraph, the applicant shall provide the 3 Chief County Assessment Officer with a signed statement from 4 the applicant's physician stating the nature and extent of 5 the condition, and that, in the physician's opinion, the 6 condition was so severe that it rendered the applicant 7 incapable of filing the application in a timely manner. 8 In counties having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an 9 applicant was denied an exemption in taxable year 1994 and 10 the denial occurred due to an error on the part of an 11 assessment official, or his or her agent or employee, then 12 beginning in taxable year 1997 the applicant's base year, for 13 purposes of determining the amount of the exemption, shall be 14 1993 rather than 1994. In addition, in taxable year 1997, the 15 applicant's exemption shall also include an amount equal to 16 (i) the amount of any exemption denied to the applicant in 17 taxable year 1995 as a result of using 1994, rather than 18 1993, as the base year, (ii) the amount of any exemption 19 denied to the applicant in taxable year 1996 as a result of 20 using 1994, rather than 1993, as the base year, and (iii) the 21 amount of the exemption erroneously denied for taxable year 22 1994. 23 For purposes of this Section, a person who will be 65 24 years of age during the current taxable year shall be 25 eligible to apply for the homestead exemption during that 26 taxable year. Application shall be made during the 27 application period in effect for the county of his or her 28 residence. 29 The Chief County Assessment Officer may determine the 30 eligibility of a life care facility that qualifies as a 31 cooperative to receive the benefits provided by this Section 32 by use of an affidavit, application, visual inspection, 33 questionnaire, or other reasonable method in order to insure 34 that the tax savings resulting from the exemption are HB2679 Engrossed -8- LRB9104128PTpk 1 credited by the management firm to the apportioned tax 2 liability of each qualifying resident. The Chief County 3 Assessment Officer may request reasonable proof that the 4 management firm has so credited that exemption. 5 Except as provided in this Section, all information 6 received by the chief county assessment officer or the 7 Department from applications filed under this Section, or 8 from any investigation conducted under the provisions of this 9 Section, shall be confidential, except for official purposes 10 or pursuant to official procedures for collection of any 11 State or local tax or enforcement of any civil or criminal 12 penalty or sanction imposed by this Act or by any statute or 13 ordinance imposing a State or local tax. Any person who 14 divulges any such information in any manner, except in 15 accordance with a proper judicial order, is guilty of a Class 16 A misdemeanor. 17 Nothing contained in this Section shall prevent the 18 Director or chief county assessment officer from publishing 19 or making available reasonable statistics concerning the 20 operation of the exemption contained in this Section in which 21 the contents of claims are grouped into aggregates in such a 22 way that information contained in any individual claim shall 23 not be disclosed. 24 (d) Each Chief County Assessment Officer shall annually 25 publish a notice of availability of the exemption provided 26 under this Section. The notice shall be published at least 27 60 days but no more than 75 days prior to the date on which 28 the application must be submitted to the Chief County 29 Assessment Officer of the county in which the property is 30 located. The notice shall appear in a newspaper of general 31 circulation in the county. 32 (Source: P.A. 89-62, eff. 1-1-96; 89-426, eff. 6-1-96; 33 89-557, eff. 1-1-97; 89-581, eff. 1-1-97; 89-626, eff. 34 8-9-96; 90-14, eff. 7-1-97; 90-204, eff. 7-25-97; 90-523, HB2679 Engrossed -9- LRB9104128PTpk 1 eff. 11-13-97; 90-524, eff. 1-1-98; 90-531, eff. 1-1-98; 2 90-655, eff. 7-30-98.) 3 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 4 becoming law.