Public Act 93-0316

HB2246 Enrolled                      LRB093 08168 RCE 08374 b

    AN ACT concerning taxes.

    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 adding
Section 18-173 as follows:

    (35 ILCS 200/18-173 new)
    Sec. 18-173. Housing opportunity area abatement program.
    (a)  For the purpose of promoting access to housing  near
work  and  in  order to promote economic diversity throughout
Illinois and to alleviate  the  concentration  of  low-income
households  in  areas  of high poverty, a housing opportunity
area tax abatement program is created.
    (b)  As used in this Section:
    "Housing authority"  means  either  a  housing  authority
created under the Housing Authorities Act or other government
agency  that  is  authorized  by the United States government
under the United States Housing Act of 1937 to  administer  a
housing  choice  voucher  program, or the authorized agent of
such a housing authority that is authorized to act upon  that
authority's behalf.
    "Housing choice voucher" means a tenant voucher issued by
a  housing  authority  under  Section  8 of the United States
Housing Act of 1937.
    "Housing opportunity area" means  a  census  tract  where
less  than 10% of the residents live below the poverty level,
as defined by the United States government and determined  by
the  most recent United States census, that is located within
a qualified township.
    "Housing opportunity unit" means a dwelling unit  located
in   residential  property  that  is  located  in  a  housing
opportunity area, that is owned by the applicant, and that is
rented to and occupied by a tenant who is participating in  a
housing  choice  voucher  program  administered  by a housing
authority as of January 1st of the tax  year  for  which  the
application is made.
    "Qualified units" means the number of housing opportunity
units  located  in  the  property with the limitation that no
more than 2 units or 20% of the total units contained  within
the   property,  whichever  is  greater,  may  be  considered
qualified units. Further, no unit may be considered qualified
unless  the  property  in  which  it  is  contained   is   in
substantial   compliance  with  local  building  codes,  and,
moreover, no unit may be considered qualified unless it meets
the  United  States   Department   of   Housing   and   Urban
Development's housing quality standards as of the most recent
housing authority inspection.
    "Qualified  township"  means  a township located within a
county with 200,000 or more inhabitants  whose  tax  capacity
exceeds  100%  of  the  average tax capacity of the county in
which it is located, except for townships  located  within  a
county  with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, where a qualified
township means a township whose tax capacity exceeds 115%  of
the  average  tax capacity of the county except for townships
located wholly within a municipality with 1,000,000  or  more
inhabitants.   All   townships   located   wholly   within  a
municipality  with  1,000,000   or   more   inhabitants   are
considered qualified townships.
    "Tax  capacity" means the equalized assessed value of all
taxable real estate  located  within  a  township  or  county
divided by the total population of that township or county.
    (c)  The  owner  of  property  located  within  a housing
opportunity area who has a housing  choice  voucher  contract
with  a housing authority may apply for a housing opportunity
area tax abatement by annually submitting an  application  to
the  housing  authority  that  administers the housing choice
voucher contract. The application must include the number  of
housing  opportunity  units  as  well  as the total number of
dwelling units contained  within  the  property.   The  owner
must,  under  oath,  self-certify  as  to the total number of
dwelling units in the property and must self-certify that the
property is in substantial  compliance  with  local  building
codes.   The  housing  authority shall annually determine the
number of qualified units located within  each  property  for
which an application is made.
    The   housing   authority   shall   establish  rules  and
procedures governing the application processes and may charge
an  application  fee.   The  county  clerk  may   audit   the
applications  to determine that the properties subject to the
tax abatement meet the requirements  of  this  Section.   The
determination  of  eligibility  of a property for the housing
opportunity area abatement shall be made  annually;  however,
no  property  may  receive  an abatement for more than 10 tax
years.
    (d)  The  housing  authority  shall   determine   housing
opportunity  areas  within  its  service  area  and  annually
deliver  to  the  county clerk, in a manner determined by the
county clerk, a list of all properties  containing  qualified
units  within  that  service area by December 31st of the tax
year for which the property is eligible  for  abatement;  the
list  shall  include  the  number  of qualified units and the
total number of dwelling units for each property.
    The county clerk shall  deliver  annually  to  a  housing
authority,  upon  that  housing authority's request, the most
recent available equalized assessed value for the county as a
whole  and  for  those  taxing  districts  and  townships  so
specified by the requesting housing authority.
    (e)  The county clerk shall abate the tax attributed to a
portion of the property  determined  to  be  eligible  for  a
housing  opportunity area abatement. The portion eligible for
abatement shall  be  determined  by  reducing  the  equalized
assessment   value  by  a  percentage  calculated  using  the
following formula: 19% of the equalized assessed value of the
property multiplied by a fraction where the numerator is  the
number of qualified units and denominator is the total number
of dwelling units located within the property.
    (f)  Any  municipality,  except  for  municipalities with
1,000,000 or more  inhabitants,  may  annually  petition  the
county  clerk  to be excluded from a housing opportunity area
if it is able to demonstrate that more than 2.5% of the total
residential  units  located  within  that  municipality   are
occupied by tenants under the housing choice voucher program.
Properties  located within an excluded municipality shall not
be eligible for the housing opportunity  area  abatement  for
the tax year in which the petition is made.
    (g)  Applicability.   This  Section  applies to tax years
2004 through 2014, unless extended by law.

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