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1 | AN ACT concerning taxes.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, | ||||||
3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing | ||||||
5 | Sections 15-170 and 15-175 as follows:
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6 | (35 ILCS 200/15-170)
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7 | Sec. 15-170. Senior Citizens Homestead Exemption. An | ||||||
8 | annual homestead
exemption limited, except as described here | ||||||
9 | with relation to cooperatives or
life care facilities, to a
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10 | maximum reduction set forth below from the property's value, as | ||||||
11 | equalized or
assessed by the Department, is granted for | ||||||
12 | property that is occupied as a
residence by a person 65 years | ||||||
13 | of age or older who is liable for paying real
estate taxes on | ||||||
14 | the property and is an owner of record of the property or has a
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15 | legal or equitable interest therein as evidenced by a written | ||||||
16 | instrument,
except for a leasehold interest, other than a | ||||||
17 | leasehold interest of land on
which a single family residence | ||||||
18 | is located, which is occupied as a residence by
a person 65 | ||||||
19 | years or older who has an ownership interest therein, legal,
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20 | equitable or as a lessee, and on which he or she is liable for | ||||||
21 | the payment
of property taxes. Before taxable year 2004, the
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22 | The maximum reduction shall be $2,500 in counties with
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23 | 3,000,000 or more inhabitants and $2,000 in all other counties. | ||||||
24 | For taxable years 2004 and thereafter, the maximum reduction | ||||||
25 | shall be $3,000 in all counties. For land
improved with an | ||||||
26 | apartment building owned and operated as a cooperative, the | ||||||
27 | maximum reduction from the value of the property, as
equalized
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28 | by the Department, shall be multiplied by the number of | ||||||
29 | apartments or units
occupied by a person 65 years of age or | ||||||
30 | older who is liable, by contract with
the owner or owners of | ||||||
31 | record, for paying property taxes on the property and
is an | ||||||
32 | owner of record of a legal or equitable interest in the |
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1 | cooperative
apartment building, other than a leasehold | ||||||
2 | interest. For land improved with
a life care facility, the | ||||||
3 | maximum reduction from the value of the property, as
equalized | ||||||
4 | by the Department, shall be multiplied by the number of | ||||||
5 | apartments or
units occupied by persons 65 years of age or | ||||||
6 | older, irrespective of any legal,
equitable, or leasehold | ||||||
7 | interest in the facility, who are liable, under a
contract with | ||||||
8 | the owner or owners of record of the facility, for paying
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9 | property taxes on the property. In a
cooperative or a life care | ||||||
10 | facility where a
homestead exemption has been granted, the | ||||||
11 | cooperative association or the
management firm of the | ||||||
12 | cooperative or facility shall credit the savings
resulting from | ||||||
13 | that exemption only to
the apportioned tax liability of the | ||||||
14 | owner or resident who qualified for
the exemption.
Any person | ||||||
15 | who willfully refuses to so credit the savings shall be guilty | ||||||
16 | of a
Class B misdemeanor. Under this Section and Section | ||||||
17 | 15-175, "life care
facility" means a facility as defined in | ||||||
18 | Section 2 of the Life Care Facilities
Act, with which the | ||||||
19 | applicant for the homestead exemption has a life care
contract | ||||||
20 | as defined in that Act.
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21 | When a homestead exemption has been granted under this | ||||||
22 | Section and the person
qualifying subsequently becomes a | ||||||
23 | resident of a facility licensed under the
Nursing Home Care | ||||||
24 | Act, the exemption shall continue so long as the residence
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25 | continues to be occupied by the qualifying person's spouse if | ||||||
26 | the spouse is 65
years of age or older, or if the residence | ||||||
27 | remains unoccupied but is still
owned by the person qualified | ||||||
28 | for the homestead exemption.
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29 | A person who will be 65 years of age
during the current | ||||||
30 | assessment year
shall
be eligible to apply for the homestead | ||||||
31 | exemption during that assessment
year.
Application shall be | ||||||
32 | made during the application period in effect for the
county of | ||||||
33 | his residence.
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34 | Beginning with assessment year 2003, for taxes payable in | ||||||
35 | 2004,
property
that is first occupied as a residence after | ||||||
36 | January 1 of any assessment year by
a person who is eligible |
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1 | for the senior citizens homestead exemption under this
Section | ||||||
2 | must be granted a pro-rata exemption for the assessment year. | ||||||
3 | The
amount of the pro-rata exemption is the exemption
allowed | ||||||
4 | in the county under this Section divided by 365 and multiplied | ||||||
5 | by the
number of days during the assessment year the property | ||||||
6 | is occupied as a
residence by a
person eligible for the | ||||||
7 | exemption under this Section. The chief county
assessment | ||||||
8 | officer must adopt reasonable procedures to establish | ||||||
9 | eligibility
for this pro-rata exemption.
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10 | The assessor or chief county assessment officer may | ||||||
11 | determine the eligibility
of a life care facility to receive | ||||||
12 | the benefits provided by this Section, by
affidavit, | ||||||
13 | application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other | ||||||
14 | reasonable
methods in order to insure that the tax savings | ||||||
15 | resulting from the exemption
are credited by the management | ||||||
16 | firm to the apportioned tax liability of each
qualifying | ||||||
17 | resident. The assessor may request reasonable proof that the
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18 | management firm has so credited the exemption.
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19 | The chief county assessment officer of each county with | ||||||
20 | less than 3,000,000
inhabitants shall provide to each person | ||||||
21 | allowed a homestead exemption under
this Section a form to | ||||||
22 | designate any other person to receive a
duplicate of any notice | ||||||
23 | of delinquency in the payment of taxes assessed and
levied | ||||||
24 | under this Code on the property of the person receiving the | ||||||
25 | exemption.
The duplicate notice shall be in addition to the | ||||||
26 | notice required to be
provided to the person receiving the | ||||||
27 | exemption, and shall be given in the
manner required by this | ||||||
28 | Code. The person filing the request for the duplicate
notice | ||||||
29 | shall pay a fee of $5 to cover administrative costs to the | ||||||
30 | supervisor of
assessments, who shall then file the executed | ||||||
31 | designation with the county
collector. Notwithstanding any | ||||||
32 | other provision of this Code to the contrary,
the filing of | ||||||
33 | such an executed designation requires the county collector to
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34 | provide duplicate notices as indicated by the designation. A | ||||||
35 | designation may
be rescinded by the person who executed such | ||||||
36 | designation at any time, in the
manner and form required by the |
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1 | chief county assessment officer.
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2 | The assessor or chief county assessment officer may | ||||||
3 | determine the
eligibility of residential property to receive | ||||||
4 | the homestead exemption provided
by this Section by | ||||||
5 | application, visual inspection, questionnaire or other
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6 | reasonable methods. The determination shall be made in | ||||||
7 | accordance with
guidelines established by the Department.
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8 | In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the | ||||||
9 | county board may by
resolution provide that if a person has | ||||||
10 | been granted a homestead exemption
under this Section, the | ||||||
11 | person qualifying need not reapply for the exemption.
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12 | In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if the | ||||||
13 | assessor or chief
county assessment officer requires annual | ||||||
14 | application for verification of
eligibility for an exemption | ||||||
15 | once granted under this Section, the application
shall be | ||||||
16 | mailed to the taxpayer.
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17 | The assessor or chief county assessment officer shall | ||||||
18 | notify each person
who qualifies for an exemption under this | ||||||
19 | Section that the person may also
qualify for deferral of real | ||||||
20 | estate taxes under the Senior Citizens Real Estate
Tax Deferral | ||||||
21 | Act. The notice shall set forth the qualifications needed for
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22 | deferral of real estate taxes, the address and telephone number | ||||||
23 | of
county collector, and a
statement that applications for | ||||||
24 | deferral of real estate taxes may be obtained
from the county | ||||||
25 | collector.
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26 | Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of the State Mandates Act, | ||||||
27 | no
reimbursement by the State is required for the | ||||||
28 | implementation of any mandate
created by this Section.
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29 | (Source: P.A. 92-196, eff. 1-1-02; 93-511, eff. 8-11-03.)
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30 | (35 ILCS 200/15-175)
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31 | Sec. 15-175. General homestead exemption. Homestead | ||||||
32 | property is
entitled to an annual homestead exemption limited, | ||||||
33 | except as described here
with relation to cooperatives, to a | ||||||
34 | reduction in the equalized assessed value
of homestead property | ||||||
35 | equal to the increase in equalized assessed value for the
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1 | current assessment year above the equalized assessed value of | ||||||
2 | the property for
1977, up to the maximum reduction set forth | ||||||
3 | below. If however, the 1977
equalized assessed value upon which | ||||||
4 | taxes were paid is subsequently determined
by local assessing | ||||||
5 | officials, the Property Tax Appeal Board, or a court to have
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6 | been excessive, the equalized assessed value which should have | ||||||
7 | been placed on
the property for 1977 shall be used to determine | ||||||
8 | the amount of the exemption.
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9 | Before taxable year 2004, the
The maximum reduction shall | ||||||
10 | be $4,500 in counties with 3,000,000 or more
inhabitants and | ||||||
11 | $3,500 in all other counties. For taxable years 2004 and | ||||||
12 | thereafter, the maximum reduction shall be $5,000 for all | ||||||
13 | counties.
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14 | In counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if, | ||||||
15 | based on the most
recent assessment, the equalized assessed | ||||||
16 | value of
the homestead property for the current assessment year | ||||||
17 | is greater than the
equalized assessed value of the property | ||||||
18 | for 1977, the owner of the property
shall automatically receive | ||||||
19 | the exemption granted under this Section in an
amount equal to | ||||||
20 | the increase over the 1977 assessment up to the maximum
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21 | reduction set forth in this Section.
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22 | If in any assessment year beginning with the 2000 | ||||||
23 | assessment year,
homestead property has a pro-rata valuation | ||||||
24 | under
Section 9-180 resulting in an increase in the assessed | ||||||
25 | valuation, a reduction
in equalized assessed valuation equal to | ||||||
26 | the increase in equalized assessed
value of the property for | ||||||
27 | the year of the pro-rata valuation above the
equalized assessed | ||||||
28 | value of the property for 1977 shall be applied to the
property | ||||||
29 | on a proportionate basis for the period the property qualified | ||||||
30 | as
homestead property during the assessment year. The maximum | ||||||
31 | proportionate
homestead exemption shall not exceed the maximum | ||||||
32 | homestead exemption allowed in
the county under this Section | ||||||
33 | divided by 365 and multiplied by the number of
days the | ||||||
34 | property qualified as homestead property.
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35 | "Homestead property" under this Section includes | ||||||
36 | residential property that is
occupied by its owner or owners as |
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1 | his or their principal dwelling place, or
that is a leasehold | ||||||
2 | interest on which a single family residence is situated,
which | ||||||
3 | is occupied as a residence by a person who has an ownership | ||||||
4 | interest
therein, legal or equitable or as a lessee, and on | ||||||
5 | which the person is
liable for the payment of property taxes. | ||||||
6 | For land improved with
an apartment building owned and operated | ||||||
7 | as a cooperative or a building which
is a life care facility as | ||||||
8 | defined in Section 15-170 and considered to
be a cooperative | ||||||
9 | under Section 15-170, the maximum reduction from the equalized
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10 | assessed value shall be limited to the increase in the value | ||||||
11 | above the
equalized assessed value of the property for 1977, up | ||||||
12 | to
the maximum reduction set forth above, multiplied by the | ||||||
13 | number of apartments
or units occupied by a person or persons | ||||||
14 | who is liable, by contract with the
owner or owners of record, | ||||||
15 | for paying property taxes on the property and is an
owner of | ||||||
16 | record of a legal or equitable interest in the cooperative
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17 | apartment building, other than a leasehold interest. For | ||||||
18 | purposes of this
Section, the term "life care facility" has the | ||||||
19 | meaning stated in Section
15-170.
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20 | In a cooperative where a homestead exemption has been | ||||||
21 | granted, the
cooperative association or its management firm | ||||||
22 | shall credit the savings
resulting from that exemption only to | ||||||
23 | the apportioned tax liability of the
owner who qualified for | ||||||
24 | the exemption. Any person who willfully refuses to so
credit | ||||||
25 | the savings shall be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
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26 | Where married persons maintain and reside in separate | ||||||
27 | residences qualifying
as homestead property, each residence | ||||||
28 | shall receive 50% of the total reduction
in equalized assessed | ||||||
29 | valuation provided by this Section.
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30 | In counties with more than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the | ||||||
31 | assessor
or chief county assessment officer may determine the
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32 | eligibility of residential property to receive the homestead | ||||||
33 | exemption by
application, visual inspection, questionnaire or | ||||||
34 | other reasonable methods. The
determination shall be made in | ||||||
35 | accordance with guidelines established by the
Department.
In | ||||||
36 | counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, in the event of |
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1 | a sale of
homestead property the homestead exemption shall | ||||||
2 | remain in effect for the
remainder of the assessment year of | ||||||
3 | the sale. The assessor or chief county
assessment officer may | ||||||
4 | require the new
owner of the property to apply for the | ||||||
5 | homestead exemption for the following
assessment year.
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6 | (Source: P.A. 90-368, eff. 1-1-98; 90-552, eff. 12-12-97; | ||||||
7 | 90-655, eff.
7-30-98; 91-346, eff. 7-29-99.)
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8 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
9 | becoming law. |