(35 ILCS 200/10-700)

Sec. 10-700. Qualified commercial and industrial property; tornado disaster. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, each qualified parcel of commercial or industrial property owned and used by a small business shall be valued at the lesser of (i) its modified equalized assessed value or (ii) 33 1/3% of its fair cash value or, in the case of property located in a county that classifies property for purposes of taxation in accordance with Section 4 of Article IX of the Constitution, the percentage of fair cash value as required by county ordinance. The method of valuation under this Section shall continue until there is a change in use or ownership of the property or until the fifteenth taxable year after the tornado disaster occurs, whichever occurs first. In order to qualify for valuation under this Section, the structure must be rebuilt within 2 years after the date of the tornado disaster, and the square footage of the rebuilt structure may not be more than 110% of the square footage of the original structure as it existed immediately prior to the tornado disaster.

"Base year" means the taxable year prior to the taxable year in which the tornado disaster occurred.

"Modified equalized assessed value" means:

(1) in the first taxable year after the tornado disaster occurs, the equalized assessed value of the property for the base year; and

(2) in the second taxable year after the tornado disaster occurs and thereafter, the modified equalized assessed value of the property for the previous taxable year, increased by 4%.

"Tornado disaster" means an occurrence of widespread or severe damage or loss of property resulting from a tornado or combination of tornadoes that has been proclaimed as a natural disaster by the Governor or the President of the United States.

"Qualified parcel of property" means property that (i) is owned and used exclusively for commercial or industrial purposes by a small business and (ii) has been rebuilt following a tornado disaster occurring in taxable year 2013 or any taxable year thereafter.

"Small business" means a business that employs fewer than 50 full-time employees.

(Source: P.A. 98-702, eff. 7-7-14.)