State of Illinois
91st General Assembly
Legislation

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91_HB4131

 
                                               LRB9112184SMpk

 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  and  Disabled  Persons
 9    Homestead Exemption.  An annual homestead exemption  limited,
10    except  as described here with relation to cooperatives, 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  or,  for  taxable  years  2000 and
15    thereafter, a disabled person  who is liable for paying  real
16    estate taxes on the property and is an owner of record of the
17    property  or  has  a  legal  or equitable interest therein as
18    evidenced by a written instrument,  except  for  a  leasehold
19    interest,  other than a leasehold interest of land on which a
20    single family residence is located, which is  occupied  as  a
21    residence by a person 65 years or older or, for taxable years
22    2000  and  thereafter, a disabled person who has an ownership
23    interest therein, legal, equitable or as  a  lessee,  and  on
24    which  he or she is liable for the payment of property taxes.
25    The maximum  reduction  shall  be  $2,500  in  counties  with
26    3,000,000  or  more  inhabitants  and  $2,000  in  all  other
27    counties.  For land improved with an apartment building owned
28    and  operated  as a cooperative or a building which is a life
29    care facility which shall be considered to be a  cooperative,
30    the  maximum  reduction  from  the  value of the property, as
31    equalized by the  Department,  shall  be  multiplied  by  the
 
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 1    number  of  apartments or units occupied by a person 65 years
 2    of age or older or, for taxable years 2000 and thereafter,  a
 3    disabled  person who is liable, by contract with the owner or
 4    owners of  record, for paying property taxes on the  property
 5    and is an owner of record of a legal or equitable interest in
 6    the  cooperative  apartment  building, other than a leasehold
 7    interest. In a cooperative where a homestead   exemption  has
 8    been  granted,  the cooperative association or its management
 9    firm shall credit the savings resulting from  that  exemption
10    only  to  the  apportioned  tax  liability  of  the owner who
11    qualified for  the  exemption.    Any  person  who  willfully
12    refuses to so credit the savings shall be guilty of a Class B
13    misdemeanor.  Under  this  Section  and Section 15-175, "life
14    care facility" means a facility as defined in  Section  2  of
15    the  Life  Care  Facilities Act, with which the applicant for
16    the homestead exemption has a life care contract  as  defined
17    in  that  Act,  which  requires the applicant to pay property
18    taxes.
19        When a homestead exemption has been  granted  under  this
20    Section  and  the  person  qualifying  subsequently becomes a
21    resident of a facility licensed under the Nursing  Home  Care
22    Act,  the  exemption  shall continue so long as the residence
23    continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse if
24    the spouse is 65 years of age or older or, for taxable  years
25    2000  and  thereafter,  disabled, or if the residence remains
26    unoccupied but is still owned by the person qualified for the
27    homestead exemption.
28        A person who will be 65 years  of  age  or,  for  taxable
29    years  2000  and  thereafter, who becomes disabled during the
30    current assessment year shall be eligible to  apply  for  the
31    homestead exemption during that assessment year.  Application
32    shall be made during the application period in effect for the
33    county of his residence.
34        The  assessor  or  chief  county  assessment  officer may
 
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 1    determine the eligibility of a life care facility to  receive
 2    the   benefits   provided  by  this  Section,  by  affidavit,
 3    application,  visual  inspection,  questionnaire   or   other
 4    reasonable  methods  in  order to insure that the tax savings
 5    resulting from the exemption are credited by  the  management
 6    firm  to  the  apportioned  tax  liability of each qualifying
 7    resident.  The assessor may request reasonable proof that the
 8    management firm has so credited the exemption.
 9        The chief county assessment officer of each  county  with
10    less  than 3,000,000 inhabitants shall provide to each person
11    allowed a homestead exemption under this Section  a  form  to
12    designate  any  other  person  to  receive a duplicate of any
13    notice of delinquency in the payment of  taxes  assessed  and
14    levied  under  this  Code  on  the  property  of  the  person
15    receiving  the  exemption.  The duplicate notice  shall be in
16    addition to the notice required to be provided to the  person
17    receiving  the  exemption,  and  shall be given in the manner
18    required by this Code.  The person filing the request for the
19    duplicate  notice  shall  pay  a   fee   of   $5   to   cover
20    administrative  costs  to  the supervisor of assessments, who
21    shall then file the  executed  designation  with  the  county
22    collector.   Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code
23    to the contrary, the filing of such an  executed  designation
24    requires the county collector to provide duplicate notices as
25    indicated by the designation.  A designation may be rescinded
26    by  the  person who executed such designation at any time, in
27    the manner and form required by the chief  county  assessment
28    officer.
29        The  assessor  or  chief  county  assessment  officer may
30    determine the eligibility of residential property to  receive
31    the   homestead   exemption   provided  by  this  Section  by
32    application,  visual  inspection,  questionnaire   or   other
33    reasonable  methods.   The  determination  shall  be  made in
34    accordance with guidelines established by the Department.
 
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 1        In counties with less  than  3,000,000  inhabitants,  the
 2    county  board  may by resolution provide that if a person has
 3    been granted a homestead exemption under  this  Section,  the
 4    person qualifying need not reapply for the exemption.
 5        In  counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if the
 6    assessor or chief county assessment officer  requires  annual
 7    application  for verification of eligibility for an exemption
 8    once granted under this Section,  the  application  shall  be
 9    mailed to the taxpayer.
10        The  assessor  or  chief  county assessment officer shall
11    notify each person who qualifies for an exemption under  this
12    Section  based  only  on age that the person may also qualify
13    for deferral of real estate taxes under the  Senior  Citizens
14    Real Estate Tax Deferral Act.  The notice shall set forth the
15    qualifications  needed for deferral of real estate taxes, the
16    address and telephone  number  of  county  collector,  and  a
17    statement that applications for deferral of real estate taxes
18    may be obtained from the county collector.
19        For  purposes  of this Section, "disabled person" has the
20    same meaning as in Section 3.14 of the  Senior  Citizens  and
21    Disabled  Persons  Property  Tax  Relief  and  Pharmaceutical
22    Assistance Act.
23    (Source: P.A. 89-412, eff. 11-17-95; 90-471, eff. 8-17-97.)

24        Section  90.  The State Mandates Act is amended by adding
25    Section 8.24 as follows:

26        (30 ILCS 805/8.24 new)
27        Sec. 8.24. Exempt mandate.   Notwithstanding  Sections  6
28    and  8 of this Act, no reimbursement by the State is required
29    for  the  implementation  of  any  mandate  created  by  this
30    amendatory Act of the 91st General Assembly.

31        Section 99.  Effective date.  This Act takes effect  upon
 
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 1    becoming law.

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