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92nd General Assembly

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Public Act 92-0196

SB38 Enrolled                                  LRB9202024SMdv

    AN ACT to amend the Property Tax Code by changing Section
15-170.

    Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:

    Section  5.  The Property Tax Code is amended by changing
Section 15-170 as follows:

    (35 ILCS 200/15-170)
    Sec. 15-170.  Senior Citizens  Homestead  Exemption.   An
annual  homestead exemption limited, except as described here
with relation to cooperatives or life care facilities,  to  a
maximum  reduction set forth below from the property's value,
as  equalized or assessed by the Department, is  granted  for
property  that  is   occupied  as  a residence by a person 65
years of age or older who is liable for  paying  real  estate
taxes  on  the  property  and  is  an  owner of record of the
property or has a legal  or  equitable  interest  therein  as
evidenced  by  a  written  instrument, except for a leasehold
interest, other than a leasehold interest of land on which  a
single  family  residence  is located, which is occupied as a
residence by a person 65 years or older who has an  ownership
interest  therein,  legal,  equitable  or as a lessee, and on
which he or she is liable for the payment of property  taxes.
The  maximum  reduction  shall  be  $2,500  in  counties with
3,000,000  or  more  inhabitants  and  $2,000  in  all  other
counties.  For land improved with an apartment building owned
and operated as a cooperative or a building which is  a  life
care  facility which shall be considered to be a cooperative,
the maximum reduction from the  value  of  the  property,  as
equalized  by  the  Department,  shall  be  multiplied by the
number of apartments or units occupied by a person  65  years
of  age or older who is liable, by contract with the owner or
owners of  record, for paying property taxes on the  property
and is an owner of record of a legal or equitable interest in
the  cooperative  apartment  building, other than a leasehold
interest.  For land improved with a life care  facility,  the
maximum   reduction  from  the  value  of  the  property,  as
equalized by the  Department,  shall  be  multiplied  by  the
number of apartments or units occupied by persons 65 years of
age  or  older,  irrespective  of  any  legal,  equitable, or
leasehold interest in the facility, who are liable,  under  a
contract  with the owner or owners of record of the facility,
for paying property taxes on the property.  In a  cooperative
or a life care facility where a homestead  exemption has been
granted,  the  cooperative  association or the its management
firm of the cooperative or facility shall credit the  savings
resulting  from  that  exemption  only to the apportioned tax
liability of the owner or  resident  who  qualified  for  the
exemption.  Any person who willfully refuses to so credit the
savings  shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor. Under this
Section and Section 15-175,  "life  care  facility"  means  a
facility  as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care Facilities
Act, with which the applicant for the homestead exemption has
a life care contract as defined in that Act,  which  requires
the applicant to pay property taxes.
    When  a  homestead  exemption has been granted under this
Section and the  person  qualifying  subsequently  becomes  a
resident  of  a facility licensed under the Nursing Home Care
Act, the exemption shall continue so long  as  the  residence
continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse if
the  spouse  is 65 years of age or older, or if the residence
remains unoccupied but is still owned by the person qualified
for the homestead exemption.
    A person who will be 65 years of age during  the  current
assessment  year shall be eligible to apply for the homestead
exemption during that assessment year.  Application shall  be
made  during  the application period in effect for the county
of his residence.
    The assessor  or  chief  county  assessment  officer  may
determine  the eligibility of a life care facility to receive
the  benefits  provided  by  this  Section,   by   affidavit,
application,   visual   inspection,  questionnaire  or  other
reasonable methods in order to insure that  the  tax  savings
resulting  from  the exemption are credited by the management
firm to the apportioned  tax  liability  of  each  qualifying
resident.  The assessor may request reasonable proof that the
management firm has so credited the exemption.
    The  chief  county assessment officer of each county with
less than 3,000,000 inhabitants shall provide to each  person
allowed  a  homestead  exemption under this Section a form to
designate any other person to  receive  a  duplicate  of  any
notice  of  delinquency  in the payment of taxes assessed and
levied  under  this  Code  on  the  property  of  the  person
receiving the exemption.  The duplicate notice  shall  be  in
addition  to the notice required to be provided to the person
receiving the exemption, and shall be  given  in  the  manner
required by this Code.  The person filing the request for the
duplicate   notice   shall   pay   a   fee  of  $5  to  cover
administrative costs to the supervisor  of  assessments,  who
shall  then  file  the  executed  designation with the county
collector.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this  Code
to  the  contrary, the filing of such an executed designation
requires the county collector to provide duplicate notices as
indicated by the designation.  A designation may be rescinded
by the person who executed such designation at any  time,  in
the  manner  and form required by the chief county assessment
officer.
    The assessor  or  chief  county  assessment  officer  may
determine  the eligibility of residential property to receive
the  homestead  exemption  provided  by   this   Section   by
application,   visual   inspection,  questionnaire  or  other
reasonable methods.   The  determination  shall  be  made  in
accordance with guidelines established by the Department.
    In  counties  with  less  than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the
county board may by resolution provide that if a  person  has
been  granted  a  homestead exemption under this Section, the
person qualifying need not reapply for the exemption.
    In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if  the
assessor  or  chief county assessment officer requires annual
application for verification of eligibility for an  exemption
once  granted  under  this  Section, the application shall be
mailed to the taxpayer.
    The assessor or chief  county  assessment  officer  shall
notify  each person who qualifies for an exemption under this
Section that the person may also qualify for deferral of real
estate taxes  under  the  Senior  Citizens  Real  Estate  Tax
Deferral  Act.  The notice shall set forth the qualifications
needed for deferral of real estate  taxes,  the  address  and
telephone  number  of  county collector, and a statement that
applications  for  deferral  of  real  estate  taxes  may  be
obtained from the county collector.
(Source: P.A. 89-412, eff. 11-17-95; 90-471, eff. 8-17-97.)
    Passed in the General Assembly May 09, 2001.
    Approved August 01, 2001.

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