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| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] |
91_SB0747eng SB747 Engrossed LRB9105833MWgcA 1 AN ACT to amend the Property Tax Code by changing Section 2 15-170. 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 15-170 as follows: 7 (35 ILCS 200/15-170) 8 Sec. 15-170. Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption. An 9 annual homestead exemption limited, except as described here 10 with relation to cooperatives or life care facilities, to a 11 maximum reduction set forth below from the property's value, 12 as equalized or assessed by the Department, is granted for 13 property that is occupied as a residence by a person 65 14 years of age or older who is liable for paying real estate 15 taxes on the property and is an owner of record of the 16 property or has a legal or equitable interest therein as 17 evidenced by a written instrument, except for a leasehold 18 interest, other than a leasehold interest of land on which a 19 single family residence is located, which is occupied as a 20 residence by a person 65 years or older who has an ownership 21 interest therein, legal, equitable or as a lessee, and on 22 which he or she is liable for the payment of property taxes. 23 The maximum reduction shall be $2,500 in counties with 24 3,000,000 or more inhabitants and $2,000 in all other 25 counties. For land improved with an apartment building owned 26 and operated as a cooperativeor a building which is a life27care facility which shall be considered to be a cooperative, 28 the maximum reduction from the value of the property, as 29 equalized by the Department, shall be multiplied by the 30 number of apartments or units occupied by a person 65 years 31 of age or older who is liable, by contract with the owner or SB747 Engrossed -2- LRB9105833MWgcA 1 owners of record, for paying property taxes on the property 2 and is an owner of record of a legal or equitable interest in 3 the cooperative apartment building, other than a leasehold 4 interest. For land improved with a life care facility, the 5 maximum reduction from the value of the property, as 6 equalized by the Department, shall be multiplied by the 7 number of apartments or units occupied by persons 65 years of 8 age or older, irrespective of any legal, equitable, or 9 leasehold interest in the facility, who are liable, under a 10 contract with the owner or owners of record of the facility, 11 for paying property taxes on the property. In a cooperative 12 or a life care facility where a homestead exemption has been 13 granted, the cooperative association or theitsmanagement 14 firm of the cooperative or facility shall credit the savings 15 resulting from that exemption only to the apportioned tax 16 liability of the owner or resident who qualified for the 17 exemption. Any person who willfully refuses to so credit the 18 savings shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Under this 19 Section and Section 15-175, "life care facility" means a 20 facility as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care Facilities 21 Act, with which the applicant for the homestead exemption has 22 a life care contract as defined in that Act, which requires23the applicant to pay property taxes. 24 When a homestead exemption has been granted under this 25 Section and the person qualifying subsequently becomes a 26 resident of a facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care 27 Act, the exemption shall continue so long as the residence 28 continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse if 29 the spouse is 65 years of age or older, or if the residence 30 remains unoccupied but is still owned by the person qualified 31 for the homestead exemption. 32 A person who will be 65 years of age during the current 33 assessment year shall be eligible to apply for the homestead 34 exemption during that assessment year. Application shall be SB747 Engrossed -3- LRB9105833MWgcA 1 made during the application period in effect for the county 2 of his residence. 3 The assessor or chief county assessment officer may 4 determine the eligibility of a life care facility to receive 5 the benefits provided by this Section, by affidavit, 6 application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other 7 reasonable methods in order to insure that the tax savings 8 resulting from the exemption are credited by the management 9 firm to the apportioned tax liability of each qualifying 10 resident. The assessor may request reasonable proof that the 11 management firm has so credited the exemption. 12 The chief county assessment officer of each county with 13 less than 3,000,000 inhabitants shall provide to each person 14 allowed a homestead exemption under this Section a form to 15 designate any other person to receive a duplicate of any 16 notice of delinquency in the payment of taxes assessed and 17 levied under this Code on the property of the person 18 receiving the exemption. The duplicate notice shall be in 19 addition to the notice required to be provided to the person 20 receiving the exemption, and shall be given in the manner 21 required by this Code. The person filing the request for the 22 duplicate notice shall pay a fee of $5 to cover 23 administrative costs to the supervisor of assessments, who 24 shall then file the executed designation with the county 25 collector. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code 26 to the contrary, the filing of such an executed designation 27 requires the county collector to provide duplicate notices as 28 indicated by the designation. A designation may be rescinded 29 by the person who executed such designation at any time, in 30 the manner and form required by the chief county assessment 31 officer. 32 The assessor or chief county assessment officer may 33 determine the eligibility of residential property to receive 34 the homestead exemption provided by this Section by SB747 Engrossed -4- LRB9105833MWgcA 1 application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other 2 reasonable methods. The determination shall be made in 3 accordance with guidelines established by the Department. 4 In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the 5 county board may by resolution provide that if a person has 6 been granted a homestead exemption under this Section, the 7 person qualifying need not reapply for the exemption. 8 In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if the 9 assessor or chief county assessment officer requires annual 10 application for verification of eligibility for an exemption 11 once granted under this Section, the application shall be 12 mailed to the taxpayer. 13 The assessor or chief county assessment officer shall 14 notify each person who qualifies for an exemption under this 15 Section that the person may also qualify for deferral of real 16 estate taxes under the Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax 17 Deferral Act. The notice shall set forth the qualifications 18 needed for deferral of real estate taxes, the address and 19 telephone number of county collector, and a statement that 20 applications for deferral of real estate taxes may be 21 obtained from the county collector. 22 (Source: P.A. 89-412, eff. 11-17-95; 90-471, eff. 8-17-97.)