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| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] |
91_SB1303eng SB1303 Engrossed LRB9110052SMdv 1 AN ACT to amend the Property Tax Code by changing 2 Sections 23-15 and 23-30. 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 Sections 23-15 and 23-30 as follows: 7 (35 ILCS 200/23-15) 8 Sec. 23-15. Tax objection procedure and hearing. 9 (a) A tax objection complaint under Section 23-10 shall 10 be filed in the circuit court of the county in which the 11 subject property is located. Joinder of plaintiffs shall be 12 permitted to the same extent permitted by law in any personal 13 action pending in the court and shall be in accordance with 14 Section 2-404 of the Code of Civil Procedure; provided, 15 however, that no complaint shall be filed as a class action. 16 The complaint shall name the county collector as defendant 17 and shall specify any objections that the plaintiff may have 18 to the taxes in question. No appearance or answer by the 19 county collector to the tax objection complaint, nor any 20 further pleadings, need be filed. Amendments to the complaint 21 may be made to the same extent which, by law, could be made 22 in any personal action pending in the court. A taxing 23 district may intervene in any case in which an objection is 24 filed against the taxing district's levy by filing an 25 appearance in the case and providing notice and a copy of the 26 appearance to the objector and the State's Attorney. Upon the 27 filing of an appearance by a taxing district, the taxing 28 district shall be responsible for defending its tax levy, and 29 the State's Attorney shall be relieved of the defense. 30 (b) (1) The court, sitting without a jury, shall hear 31 and determine all objections specified to the taxes, SB1303 Engrossed -2- LRB9110052SMdv 1 assessments, or levies in question. This Section shall be 2 construed to provide a complete remedy for any claims with 3 respect to those taxes, assessments, or levies, excepting 4 only matters for which an exclusive remedy is provided 5 elsewhere in this Code. 6 (2) The taxes, assessments, and levies that are the 7 subject of the objection shall be presumed correct and legal, 8 but the presumption is rebuttable. The plaintiff has the 9 burden of proving any contested matter of fact by clear and 10 convincing evidence. 11 (3) Objections to assessments shall be heard de novo by 12 the court. The court shall grant relief in the cases in which 13 the objector meets the burden of proof under this Section and 14 shows an assessment to be incorrect or illegal. If an 15 objection is made claiming incorrect valuation, the court 16 shall consider the objection without regard to the 17 correctness of any practice, procedure, or method of 18 valuation followed by the assessor, board of appeals, or 19 board of review in making or reviewing the assessment, and 20 without regard to the intent or motivation of any assessing 21 official. The doctrine known as constructive fraud is hereby 22 abolished for purposes of all challenges to taxes, 23 assessments, or levies. 24 (c) If the court orders a refund of any part of the 25 taxes paid, it shall also order the payment of interest as 26 provided in Section 23-20. Appeals may be taken from final 27 judgments as in other civil cases. 28 (d) This amendatory Act of 1995 shall apply to all tax 29 objection matters still pending for any tax year, except as 30 provided in Sections 23-5 and 23-10 regarding procedures and 31 time limitations for payment of taxes and filing tax 32 objection complaints. 33 (e) In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if 34 the court renders a decision lowering the assessment of a SB1303 Engrossed -3- LRB9110052SMdv 1 particular parcel on which a residence occupied by the owner 2 is situated, the reduced assessment, subject to equalization, 3 shall remain in effect for the remainder of the general 4 assessment period as provided in Sections 9-215 through 5 9-225, unless that parcel is subsequently sold in an arm's 6 length transaction establishing a fair cash value for the 7 parcel that is different from the fair cash value on which 8 the court's assessment is based, or unless the decision of 9 the court is reversed or modified upon review. 10 (Source: P.A. 88-455; 88-642, eff. 9-9-94; 89-126, eff. 11 7-11-95; 89-290, eff. 1-1-96; 89-593, eff. 8-1-96; 89-626, 12 eff. 8-9-96.) 13 (35 ILCS 200/23-30) 14 Sec. 23-30. Conference on tax objection. Following the 15 filing of an objection under Section 23-10, the court may 16 hold a conference with the objector and the State's Attorney 17 or, if a taxing district has filed an appearance in the case, 18 with the objector and the taxing district. Compromise 19 agreements on tax objections reached by conference shall be 20 filed with the court, and the parties shall prepare an order 21 covering the settlement and submit the order to the court for 22 entry. 23 (Source: P.A. 88-455; 89-126, eff. 7-11-95.) 24 Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon 25 becoming law.