Full Text of HB4789 94th General Assembly
HB4789enr 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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HB4789 Enrolled |
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| AN ACT concerning property tax.
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| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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| represented in the General Assembly:
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| Section 1. Findings; purpose; validation. | 5 |
| (a) The General Assembly finds and declares that: | 6 |
| (1) Public Act 88-669, effective November 29, 1994, | 7 |
| created Section 15-172 of the Property Tax Code, then known | 8 |
| as the Senior Citizens Tax Freeze Homestead Exemption. | 9 |
| Public Act 88-669 also contained other provisions. | 10 |
| (2) The Senior Citizens Tax Freeze Homestead Exemption | 11 |
| has been renamed the Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze | 12 |
| Homestead Exemption. | 13 |
| (3) The Illinois Supreme Court declared Public Act | 14 |
| 88-669 to be unconstitutional as a violation of the single | 15 |
| subject clause of the Illinois Constitution in People v. | 16 |
| Olender , Docket No. 98932, opinion filed December 15, 2005. | 17 |
| (b) Among the purposes of this Act is the re-enactment of | 18 |
| the provisions of Section 15-172 of the Property Tax Code and | 19 |
| to minimize or prevent any problems concerning those provisions | 20 |
| that may arise from the unconstitutionality of Public Act | 21 |
| 88-669. This re-enactment is intended to remove any question as | 22 |
| to the validity and content of those provisions; it is not | 23 |
| intended to supersede any other Public Act that amends the | 24 |
| provisions re-enacted in this Act. The re-enacted material is | 25 |
| shown in this Act as existing text (i.e., without underscoring) | 26 |
| and includes changes made by subsequent amendments. We are also | 27 |
| making substantive changes to the Section; these changes are | 28 |
| shown with striking and underscoring. | 29 |
| (c) The re-enactment of the provisions of Section 15-172 of | 30 |
| the Property Tax Code by this Act is not intended, and shall | 31 |
| not be construed, to impair any legal argument concerning | 32 |
| whether those provisions were substantially re-enacted by any | 33 |
| other Public Act. |
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| (d) All otherwise lawful actions taken before the effective | 2 |
| date of this Act in reliance on or pursuant to the provisions | 3 |
| re-enacted by this Act, as those provisions were set forth in | 4 |
| Public Act 88-669 or as subsequently amended, by any officer, | 5 |
| employee, or agency of State government or by any other person | 6 |
| or entity, are hereby validated, except to the extent | 7 |
| prohibited under the Illinois or United States Constitution. | 8 |
| (e) This Act applies, without limitation, to actions | 9 |
| pending on or after the effective date of this Act, except to | 10 |
| the extent prohibited under the Illinois or United States | 11 |
| Constitution. | 12 |
| Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing | 13 |
| Section 15-170 and by re-enacting and changing Section 15-172 | 14 |
| as follows:
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| (35 ILCS 200/15-170)
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| Sec. 15-170. Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption. An | 17 |
| annual homestead
exemption limited, except as described here | 18 |
| with relation to cooperatives or
life care facilities, to a
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| maximum reduction set forth below from the property's value, as | 20 |
| equalized or
assessed by the Department, is granted for | 21 |
| property that is occupied as a
residence by a person 65 years | 22 |
| of age or older who is liable for paying real
estate taxes on | 23 |
| the property and is an owner of record of the property or has a
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| legal or equitable interest therein as evidenced by a written | 25 |
| instrument,
except for a leasehold interest, other than a | 26 |
| leasehold interest of land on
which a single family residence | 27 |
| is located, which is occupied as a residence by
a person 65 | 28 |
| years or older who has an ownership interest therein, legal,
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| equitable or as a lessee, and on which he or she is liable for | 30 |
| the payment
of property taxes. Before taxable year 2004, the | 31 |
| maximum reduction shall be $2,500 in counties with
3,000,000 or | 32 |
| more inhabitants and $2,000 in all other counties. For taxable | 33 |
| years 2004 through 2005
and thereafter , the maximum reduction | 34 |
| shall be $3,000 in all counties. For taxable years 2006 and |
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| thereafter, the maximum reduction shall be $3,500 in all | 2 |
| counties.
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| For land
improved with an apartment building owned and | 4 |
| operated as a cooperative, the maximum reduction from the value | 5 |
| of the property, as
equalized
by the Department, shall be | 6 |
| multiplied by the number of apartments or units
occupied by a | 7 |
| person 65 years of age or older who is liable, by contract with
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| the owner or owners of record, for paying property taxes on the | 9 |
| property and
is an owner of record of a legal or equitable | 10 |
| interest in the cooperative
apartment building, other than a | 11 |
| leasehold interest. For land improved with
a life care | 12 |
| facility, the maximum reduction from the value of the property, | 13 |
| as
equalized by the Department, shall be multiplied by the | 14 |
| number of apartments or
units occupied by persons 65 years of | 15 |
| age or older, irrespective of any legal,
equitable, or | 16 |
| leasehold interest in the facility, who are liable, under a
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| contract with the owner or owners of record of the facility, | 18 |
| for paying
property taxes on the property. In a
cooperative or | 19 |
| a life care facility where a
homestead exemption has been | 20 |
| granted, the cooperative association or the
management firm of | 21 |
| the cooperative or facility shall credit the savings
resulting | 22 |
| from that exemption only to
the apportioned tax liability of | 23 |
| the owner or resident who qualified for
the exemption.
Any | 24 |
| person who willfully refuses to so credit the savings shall be | 25 |
| guilty of a
Class B misdemeanor. Under this Section and | 26 |
| Sections 15-175 and 15-176, "life care
facility" means a | 27 |
| facility as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care Facilities
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| Act, with which the applicant for the homestead exemption has a | 29 |
| life care
contract as defined in that Act.
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| When a homestead exemption has been granted under this | 31 |
| Section and the person
qualifying subsequently becomes a | 32 |
| resident of a facility licensed under the
Nursing Home Care | 33 |
| Act, the exemption shall continue so long as the residence
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| continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse if | 35 |
| the spouse is 65
years of age or older, or if the residence | 36 |
| remains unoccupied but is still
owned by the person qualified |
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| for the homestead exemption.
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| A person who will be 65 years of age
during the current | 3 |
| assessment year
shall
be eligible to apply for the homestead | 4 |
| exemption during that assessment
year.
Application shall be | 5 |
| made during the application period in effect for the
county of | 6 |
| his residence.
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| Beginning with assessment year 2003, for taxes payable in | 8 |
| 2004,
property
that is first occupied as a residence after | 9 |
| January 1 of any assessment year by
a person who is eligible | 10 |
| for the senior citizens homestead exemption under this
Section | 11 |
| must be granted a pro-rata exemption for the assessment year. | 12 |
| The
amount of the pro-rata exemption is the exemption
allowed | 13 |
| in the county under this Section divided by 365 and multiplied | 14 |
| by the
number of days during the assessment year the property | 15 |
| is occupied as a
residence by a
person eligible for the | 16 |
| exemption under this Section. The chief county
assessment | 17 |
| officer must adopt reasonable procedures to establish | 18 |
| eligibility
for this pro-rata exemption.
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| The assessor or chief county assessment officer may | 20 |
| determine the eligibility
of a life care facility to receive | 21 |
| the benefits provided by this Section, by
affidavit, | 22 |
| application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other | 23 |
| reasonable
methods in order to insure that the tax savings | 24 |
| resulting from the exemption
are credited by the management | 25 |
| firm to the apportioned tax liability of each
qualifying | 26 |
| resident. The assessor may request reasonable proof that the
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| management firm has so credited the exemption.
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| The chief county assessment officer of each county with | 29 |
| less than 3,000,000
inhabitants shall provide to each person | 30 |
| allowed a homestead exemption under
this Section a form to | 31 |
| designate any other person to receive a
duplicate of any notice | 32 |
| of delinquency in the payment of taxes assessed and
levied | 33 |
| under this Code on the property of the person receiving the | 34 |
| exemption.
The duplicate notice shall be in addition to the | 35 |
| notice required to be
provided to the person receiving the | 36 |
| exemption, and shall be given in the
manner required by this |
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| Code. The person filing the request for the duplicate
notice | 2 |
| shall pay a fee of $5 to cover administrative costs to the | 3 |
| supervisor of
assessments, who shall then file the executed | 4 |
| designation with the county
collector. Notwithstanding any | 5 |
| other provision of this Code to the contrary,
the filing of | 6 |
| such an executed designation requires the county collector to
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| provide duplicate notices as indicated by the designation. A | 8 |
| designation may
be rescinded by the person who executed such | 9 |
| designation at any time, in the
manner and form required by the | 10 |
| chief county assessment officer.
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| The assessor or chief county assessment officer may | 12 |
| determine the
eligibility of residential property to receive | 13 |
| the homestead exemption provided
by this Section by | 14 |
| application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other
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| reasonable methods. The determination shall be made in | 16 |
| accordance with
guidelines established by the Department.
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| In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the | 18 |
| county board may by
resolution provide that if a person has | 19 |
| been granted a homestead exemption
under this Section, the | 20 |
| person qualifying need not reapply for the exemption.
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| In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if the | 22 |
| assessor or chief
county assessment officer requires annual | 23 |
| application for verification of
eligibility for an exemption | 24 |
| once granted under this Section, the application
shall be | 25 |
| mailed to the taxpayer.
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| The assessor or chief county assessment officer shall | 27 |
| notify each person
who qualifies for an exemption under this | 28 |
| Section that the person may also
qualify for deferral of real | 29 |
| estate taxes under the Senior Citizens Real Estate
Tax Deferral | 30 |
| Act. The notice shall set forth the qualifications needed for
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| deferral of real estate taxes, the address and telephone number | 32 |
| of
county collector, and a
statement that applications for | 33 |
| deferral of real estate taxes may be obtained
from the county | 34 |
| collector.
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| Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of the State Mandates Act, | 36 |
| no
reimbursement by the State is required for the |
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| implementation of any mandate
created by this Section.
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| (Source: P.A. 92-196, eff. 1-1-02; 93-511, eff. 8-11-03; | 3 |
| 93-715, eff. 7-12-04.)
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| (35 ILCS 200/15-172)
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| Sec. 15-172. Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead | 6 |
| Exemption.
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| (a) This Section may be cited as the Senior Citizens | 8 |
| Assessment
Freeze Homestead Exemption.
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| (b) As used in this Section:
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| "Applicant" means an individual who has filed an | 11 |
| application under this
Section.
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| "Base amount" means the base year equalized assessed value | 13 |
| of the residence
plus the first year's equalized assessed value | 14 |
| of any added improvements which
increased the assessed value of | 15 |
| the residence after the base year.
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| "Base year" means the taxable year prior to the taxable | 17 |
| year for which the
applicant first qualifies and applies for | 18 |
| the exemption provided that in the
prior taxable year the | 19 |
| property was improved with a permanent structure that
was | 20 |
| occupied as a residence by the applicant who was liable for | 21 |
| paying real
property taxes on the property and who was either | 22 |
| (i) an owner of record of the
property or had legal or | 23 |
| equitable interest in the property as evidenced by a
written | 24 |
| instrument or (ii) had a legal or equitable interest as a | 25 |
| lessee in the
parcel of property that was single family | 26 |
| residence.
If in any subsequent taxable year for which the | 27 |
| applicant applies and
qualifies for the exemption the equalized | 28 |
| assessed value of the residence is
less than the equalized | 29 |
| assessed value in the existing base year
(provided that such | 30 |
| equalized assessed value is not
based
on an
assessed value that | 31 |
| results from a temporary irregularity in the property that
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| reduces the
assessed value for one or more taxable years), then | 33 |
| that
subsequent taxable year shall become the base year until a | 34 |
| new base year is
established under the terms of this paragraph. | 35 |
| For taxable year 1999 only, the
Chief County Assessment Officer |
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| shall review (i) all taxable years for which
the
applicant | 2 |
| applied and qualified for the exemption and (ii) the existing | 3 |
| base
year.
The assessment officer shall select as the new base | 4 |
| year the year with the
lowest equalized assessed value.
An | 5 |
| equalized assessed value that is based on an assessed value | 6 |
| that results
from a
temporary irregularity in the property that | 7 |
| reduces the assessed value for one
or more
taxable years shall | 8 |
| not be considered the lowest equalized assessed value.
The | 9 |
| selected year shall be the base year for
taxable year 1999 and | 10 |
| thereafter until a new base year is established under the
terms | 11 |
| of this paragraph.
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| "Chief County Assessment Officer" means the County | 13 |
| Assessor or Supervisor of
Assessments of the county in which | 14 |
| the property is located.
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| "Equalized assessed value" means the assessed value as | 16 |
| equalized by the
Illinois Department of Revenue.
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| "Household" means the applicant, the spouse of the | 18 |
| applicant, and all persons
using the residence of the applicant | 19 |
| as their principal place of residence.
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| "Household income" means the combined income of the members | 21 |
| of a household
for the calendar year preceding the taxable | 22 |
| year.
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| "Income" has the same meaning as provided in Section 3.07 | 24 |
| of the Senior
Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax Relief | 25 |
| and Pharmaceutical Assistance
Act, except that, beginning in | 26 |
| assessment year 2001, "income" does not
include veteran's | 27 |
| benefits.
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| "Internal Revenue Code of 1986" means the United States | 29 |
| Internal Revenue Code
of 1986 or any successor law or laws | 30 |
| relating to federal income taxes in effect
for the year | 31 |
| preceding the taxable year.
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| "Life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative" means | 33 |
| a facility as
defined in Section 2 of the Life Care Facilities | 34 |
| Act.
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| "Residence" means the principal dwelling place and | 36 |
| appurtenant structures
used for residential purposes in this |
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| State occupied on January 1 of the
taxable year by a household | 2 |
| and so much of the surrounding land, constituting
the parcel | 3 |
| upon which the dwelling place is situated, as is used for
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| residential purposes. If the Chief County Assessment Officer | 5 |
| has established a
specific legal description for a portion of | 6 |
| property constituting the
residence, then that portion of | 7 |
| property shall be deemed the residence for the
purposes of this | 8 |
| Section.
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| "Taxable year" means the calendar year during which ad | 10 |
| valorem property taxes
payable in the next succeeding year are | 11 |
| levied.
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| (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 of | 16 |
| age or older during the taxable year, (ii) has a household | 17 |
| income
of $35,000 or less prior to taxable year 1999,
$40,000 | 18 |
| or less in taxable years 1999 through 2003, and $45,000 or less | 19 |
| in taxable year 2004 and 2005, and $50,000 or less in taxable | 20 |
| year 2006 and thereafter, (iii) is liable for paying real | 21 |
| property taxes on
the
property, and (iv) is an owner of record | 22 |
| of the property or has a legal or
equitable interest in the | 23 |
| property as evidenced by a written instrument. This
homestead | 24 |
| exemption shall also apply to a leasehold interest in a parcel | 25 |
| of
property improved with a permanent structure that is a | 26 |
| single family residence
that is occupied as a residence by a | 27 |
| person who (i) is 65 years of age or older
during the taxable | 28 |
| year, (ii) has a household income of $35,000 or less prior
to | 29 |
| taxable year 1999, $40,000 or less in taxable years 1999 | 30 |
| through 2003, and $45,000 or less in taxable year 2004 and | 31 |
| 2005, and $50,000 or less in taxable year 2006 and thereafter,
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| (iii)
has a legal or equitable ownership interest in the | 33 |
| property as lessee, and (iv)
is liable for the payment of real | 34 |
| property taxes on that property.
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| Through taxable year 2005, the
The amount of this exemption | 36 |
| shall be the equalized assessed value of the
residence in the |
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| taxable year for which application is made minus the base
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| amount. For taxable year 2006 and thereafter, the amount of the | 3 |
| exemption is as follows:
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| (1) For an applicant who has a household income of | 5 |
| $45,000 or less, the amount of the exemption is the | 6 |
| equalized assessed value of the
residence in the taxable | 7 |
| year for which application is made minus the base
amount. | 8 |
| (2) For an applicant who has a household income | 9 |
| exceeding $45,000 but not exceeding $46,250, the amount of | 10 |
| the exemption is (i) the equalized assessed value of the
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| residence in the taxable year for which application is made | 12 |
| minus the base
amount (ii) multiplied by 0.8. | 13 |
| (3) For an applicant who has a household income | 14 |
| exceeding $46,250 but not exceeding $47,500, the amount of | 15 |
| the exemption is (i) the equalized assessed value of the
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| residence in the taxable year for which application is made | 17 |
| minus the base
amount (ii) multiplied by 0.6. | 18 |
| (4) For an applicant who has a household income | 19 |
| exceeding $47,500 but not exceeding $48,750, the amount of | 20 |
| the exemption is (i) the equalized assessed value of the
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| residence in the taxable year for which application is made | 22 |
| minus the base
amount (ii) multiplied by 0.4. | 23 |
| (5) For an applicant who has a household income | 24 |
| exceeding $48,750 but not exceeding $50,000, the amount of | 25 |
| the exemption is (i) the equalized assessed value of the
| 26 |
| residence in the taxable year for which application is made | 27 |
| minus the base
amount (ii) multiplied by 0.2.
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| When the applicant is a surviving spouse of an applicant | 29 |
| for a prior year for
the same residence for which an exemption | 30 |
| under this Section has been granted,
the base year and base | 31 |
| amount for that residence are the same as for the
applicant for | 32 |
| the prior year.
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| Each year at the time the assessment books are certified to | 34 |
| the County Clerk,
the Board of Review or Board of Appeals shall | 35 |
| give to the County Clerk a list
of the assessed values of | 36 |
| improvements on each parcel qualifying for this
exemption that |
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| were added after the base year for this parcel and that
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| increased the assessed value of the property.
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| In the case of land improved with an apartment building | 4 |
| owned and operated as
a cooperative or a building that is a | 5 |
| life care facility that qualifies as a
cooperative, the maximum | 6 |
| reduction from the equalized assessed value of the
property is | 7 |
| limited to the sum of the reductions calculated for each unit
| 8 |
| occupied as a residence by a person or persons (i) 65 years of | 9 |
| age or older, (ii) with a
household income of $35,000 or less | 10 |
| prior to taxable year 1999, $40,000 or
less in taxable years | 11 |
| 1999 through 2003, and $45,000 or less in taxable year 2004 and | 12 |
| 2005, and $50,000 or less in taxable year 2006 and thereafter, | 13 |
| (iii) who is liable, by contract with the
owner
or owners of | 14 |
| record, for paying real property taxes on the property, and | 15 |
| (iv) who is
an owner of record of a legal or equitable interest | 16 |
| in the cooperative
apartment building, other than a leasehold | 17 |
| interest. In the instance of a
cooperative where a homestead | 18 |
| exemption has been granted under this Section,
the cooperative | 19 |
| association or its management firm shall credit the savings
| 20 |
| resulting from that exemption only to the apportioned tax | 21 |
| liability of the
owner who qualified for the exemption. Any | 22 |
| person who willfully refuses to
credit that savings to an owner | 23 |
| who qualifies for the exemption is guilty of a
Class B | 24 |
| misdemeanor.
| 25 |
| When a homestead exemption has been granted under this | 26 |
| Section and an
applicant then becomes a resident of a facility | 27 |
| licensed under the Nursing Home
Care Act, the exemption shall | 28 |
| be granted in subsequent years so long as the
residence (i) | 29 |
| continues to be occupied by the qualified applicant's spouse or
| 30 |
| (ii) if remaining unoccupied, is still owned by the qualified | 31 |
| applicant for the
homestead exemption.
| 32 |
| Beginning January 1, 1997, when an individual dies who | 33 |
| would have qualified
for an exemption under this Section, and | 34 |
| the surviving spouse does not
independently qualify for this | 35 |
| exemption because of age, the exemption under
this Section | 36 |
| shall be granted to the surviving spouse for the taxable year
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| preceding and the taxable
year of the death, provided that, | 2 |
| except for age, the surviving spouse meets
all
other | 3 |
| qualifications for the granting of this exemption for those | 4 |
| years.
| 5 |
| When married persons maintain separate residences, the | 6 |
| exemption provided for
in this Section may be claimed by only | 7 |
| one of such persons and for only one
residence.
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| For taxable year 1994 only, in counties having less than | 9 |
| 3,000,000
inhabitants, to receive the exemption, a person shall | 10 |
| submit an application by
February 15, 1995 to the Chief County | 11 |
| Assessment Officer
of the county in which the property is | 12 |
| located. In counties having 3,000,000
or more inhabitants, for | 13 |
| taxable year 1994 and all subsequent taxable years, to
receive | 14 |
| the exemption, a person
may submit an application to the Chief | 15 |
| County
Assessment Officer of the county in which the property | 16 |
| is located during such
period as may be specified by the Chief | 17 |
| County Assessment Officer. The Chief
County Assessment Officer | 18 |
| in counties of 3,000,000 or more inhabitants shall
annually | 19 |
| give notice of the application period by mail or by | 20 |
| publication. In
counties having less than 3,000,000 | 21 |
| inhabitants, beginning with taxable year
1995 and thereafter, | 22 |
| to receive the exemption, a person
shall
submit an
application | 23 |
| by July 1 of each taxable year to the Chief County Assessment
| 24 |
| Officer of the county in which the property is located. A | 25 |
| county may, by
ordinance, establish a date for submission of | 26 |
| applications that is
different than
July 1.
The applicant shall | 27 |
| submit with the
application an affidavit of the applicant's | 28 |
| total household income, age,
marital status (and if married the | 29 |
| name and address of the applicant's spouse,
if known), and | 30 |
| principal dwelling place of members of the household on January
| 31 |
| 1 of the taxable year. The Department shall establish, by rule, | 32 |
| a method for
verifying the accuracy of affidavits filed by | 33 |
| applicants under this Section.
The applications shall be | 34 |
| clearly marked as applications for the Senior
Citizens | 35 |
| Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption.
| 36 |
| Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, in |
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| counties having fewer
than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an | 2 |
| applicant fails
to file the application required by this | 3 |
| Section in a timely manner and this
failure to file is due to a | 4 |
| mental or physical condition sufficiently severe so
as to | 5 |
| render the applicant incapable of filing the application in a | 6 |
| timely
manner, the Chief County Assessment Officer may extend | 7 |
| the filing deadline for
a period of 30 days after the applicant | 8 |
| regains the capability to file the
application, but in no case | 9 |
| may the filing deadline be extended beyond 3
months of the | 10 |
| original filing deadline. In order to receive the extension
| 11 |
| provided in this paragraph, the applicant shall provide the | 12 |
| Chief County
Assessment Officer with a signed statement from | 13 |
| the applicant's physician
stating the nature and extent of the | 14 |
| condition, that, in the
physician's opinion, the condition was | 15 |
| so severe that it rendered the applicant
incapable of filing | 16 |
| the application in a timely manner, and the date on which
the | 17 |
| applicant regained the capability to file the application.
| 18 |
| Beginning January 1, 1998, notwithstanding any other | 19 |
| provision to the
contrary, in counties having fewer than | 20 |
| 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an applicant
fails to file the | 21 |
| application required by this Section in a timely manner and
| 22 |
| this failure to file is due to a mental or physical condition | 23 |
| sufficiently
severe so as to render the applicant incapable of | 24 |
| filing the application in a
timely manner, the Chief County | 25 |
| Assessment Officer may extend the filing
deadline for a period | 26 |
| of 3 months. In order to receive the extension provided
in this | 27 |
| paragraph, the applicant shall provide the Chief County | 28 |
| Assessment
Officer with a signed statement from the applicant's | 29 |
| physician stating the
nature and extent of the condition, and | 30 |
| that, in the physician's opinion, the
condition was so severe | 31 |
| that it rendered the applicant incapable of filing the
| 32 |
| application in a timely manner.
| 33 |
| In counties having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if an | 34 |
| applicant was
denied an exemption in taxable year 1994 and the | 35 |
| denial occurred due to an
error on the part of an assessment
| 36 |
| official, or his or her agent or employee, then beginning in |
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| taxable year 1997
the
applicant's base year, for purposes of | 2 |
| determining the amount of the exemption,
shall be 1993 rather | 3 |
| than 1994. In addition, in taxable year 1997, the
applicant's | 4 |
| exemption shall also include an amount equal to (i) the amount | 5 |
| of
any exemption denied to the applicant in taxable year 1995 | 6 |
| as a result of using
1994, rather than 1993, as the base year, | 7 |
| (ii) the amount of any exemption
denied to the applicant in | 8 |
| taxable year 1996 as a result of using 1994, rather
than 1993, | 9 |
| as the base year, and (iii) the amount of the exemption | 10 |
| erroneously
denied for taxable year 1994.
| 11 |
| For purposes of this Section, a person who will be 65 years | 12 |
| of age during the
current taxable year shall be eligible to | 13 |
| apply for the homestead exemption
during that taxable year. | 14 |
| Application shall be made during the application
period in | 15 |
| effect for the county of his or her residence.
| 16 |
| The Chief County Assessment Officer may determine the | 17 |
| eligibility of a life
care facility that qualifies as a | 18 |
| cooperative to receive the benefits
provided by this Section by | 19 |
| use of an affidavit, application, visual
inspection, | 20 |
| questionnaire, or other reasonable method in order to insure | 21 |
| that
the tax savings resulting from the exemption are credited | 22 |
| by the management
firm to the apportioned tax liability of each | 23 |
| qualifying resident. The Chief
County Assessment Officer may | 24 |
| request reasonable proof that the management firm
has so | 25 |
| credited that exemption.
| 26 |
| Except as provided in this Section, all information | 27 |
| received by the chief
county assessment officer or the | 28 |
| Department from applications filed under this
Section, or from | 29 |
| any investigation conducted under the provisions of this
| 30 |
| Section, shall be confidential, except for official purposes or
| 31 |
| pursuant to official procedures for collection of any State or | 32 |
| local tax or
enforcement of any civil or criminal penalty or | 33 |
| sanction imposed by this Act or
by any statute or ordinance | 34 |
| imposing a State or local tax. Any person who
divulges any such | 35 |
| information in any manner, except in accordance with a proper
| 36 |
| judicial order, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
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| Nothing contained in this Section shall prevent the | 2 |
| Director or chief county
assessment officer from publishing or | 3 |
| making available reasonable statistics
concerning the | 4 |
| operation of the exemption contained in this Section in which
| 5 |
| the contents of claims are grouped into aggregates in such a | 6 |
| way that
information contained in any individual claim shall | 7 |
| not be disclosed.
| 8 |
| (d) Each Chief County Assessment Officer shall annually | 9 |
| publish a notice
of availability of the exemption provided | 10 |
| under this Section. The notice
shall be published at least 60 | 11 |
| days but no more than 75 days prior to the date
on which the | 12 |
| application must be submitted to the Chief County Assessment
| 13 |
| Officer of the county in which the property is located. The | 14 |
| notice shall
appear in a newspaper of general circulation in | 15 |
| the county.
| 16 |
| Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of the State Mandates Act, | 17 |
| no reimbursement by the State is required for the | 18 |
| implementation of any mandate created by this Section.
| 19 |
| (Source: P.A. 93-715, eff. 7-12-04.)
| 20 |
| Section 10. The Senior Citizens Real Estate Tax Deferral | 21 |
| Act is amended by changing Section 2 as follows:
| 22 |
| (320 ILCS 30/2) (from Ch. 67 1/2, par. 452)
| 23 |
| Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this Act:
| 24 |
| (a) "Taxpayer" means an individual whose household income | 25 |
| for the year
is no greater than : (i) $40,000 through tax year | 26 |
| 2005; and (ii) $50,000 for tax year 2006 and thereafter .
| 27 |
| (b) "Tax deferred property" means the property upon which | 28 |
| real
estate taxes are deferred under this Act.
| 29 |
| (c) "Homestead" means the land and buildings thereon, | 30 |
| including a
condominium or a dwelling unit in a multidwelling | 31 |
| building that is owned and
operated as a cooperative, occupied | 32 |
| by the taxpayer as his residence or which
are temporarily | 33 |
| unoccupied by the taxpayer because such taxpayer is temporarily
| 34 |
| residing, for not more than 1 year, in a licensed facility as |
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| defined in
Section 1-113 of the Nursing Home Care Act.
| 2 |
| (d) "Real estate taxes" or "taxes" means the taxes on real | 3 |
| property for
which the taxpayer would be liable under the | 4 |
| Property Tax Code, including special service area taxes, and | 5 |
| special assessments on
benefited real property for which the | 6 |
| taxpayer would be liable to a unit of
local government.
| 7 |
| (e) "Department" means the Department of Revenue.
| 8 |
| (f) "Qualifying property" means a homestead which (a) the | 9 |
| taxpayer or the
taxpayer and his spouse own in fee simple or | 10 |
| are purchasing in fee simple under
a recorded instrument of | 11 |
| sale, (b) is not income-producing property, (c) is not
subject | 12 |
| to a lien for unpaid real estate taxes when a claim under this | 13 |
| Act is
filed.
| 14 |
| (g) "Equity interest" means the current assessed valuation | 15 |
| of the qualified
property times the fraction necessary to | 16 |
| convert that figure to full market
value minus any outstanding | 17 |
| debts or liens on that property. In the case of
qualifying | 18 |
| property not having a separate assessed valuation, the | 19 |
| appraised
value as determined by a qualified real estate | 20 |
| appraiser shall be used instead
of the current assessed | 21 |
| valuation.
| 22 |
| (h) "Household income" has the meaning ascribed to that | 23 |
| term in the Senior
Citizens and Disabled Persons Property Tax | 24 |
| Relief and Pharmaceutical Assistance
Act.
| 25 |
| (i) "Collector" means the county collector or, if the taxes | 26 |
| to be deferred
are special assessments, an official designated | 27 |
| by a unit of local government
to collect special assessments.
| 28 |
| (Source: P.A. 92-639, eff. 1-1-03.)
| 29 |
| Section 90. The State Mandates Act is amended by adding | 30 |
| Section 8.30 as
follows:
| 31 |
| (30 ILCS 805/8.30 new)
| 32 |
| Sec. 8.30. Exempt mandate. Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 | 33 |
| of this
Act, no reimbursement by the State is required for the | 34 |
| implementation of
any mandate created by this amendatory Act of |
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| the 94th General Assembly.
| 2 |
| Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | 3 |
| becoming law.
|
|