HR0847 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0847 LRB097 20491 HLH 66042 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of Representatives recognize the hardships Illinois property owners face in the economic climate of today; and

WHEREAS, The National and State economies are in a recession which began, in part, by the collapse of the housing market; and

WHEREAS, This collapse has resulted in the fall of many Illinois property owners' property values, which has triggered property tax rates to increase to keep Illinois local governments' revenues stable; and

WHEREAS, Illinois local governments rely heavily on property taxes as revenue; in 2007, property taxes accounted for 68% of local governments' general own-source revenue; and

WHEREAS, The condition of property values decreasing and property taxes increasing is causing financial problems for many Illinois property owners, and is resulting in many homeowners losing or being at risk of losing their homes; and

WHEREAS, The 96th General Assembly passed and Governor signed into law Public Act 96-1418 in response to the concerns of Illinois property owners; and

WHEREAS, The goals of Public Act 96-1418 included expanding the Returning Veterans Homestead Exemption to reduce the property tax liability of a returning veteran in the year after the veteran has returned home; lowering the service-connected disability requirement for the Disabled Veterans Standard Homestead Exemption to 70% from 75% to increase the number of veterans who are eligible for the exemption; and extending the Alternative General Homestead Exemption for 3 more years; and

WHEREAS, In addition, Public Act 96-1418 requires: (i) county boards of review to make their rules and procedures available to the public; (ii) county assessors to make a plain-English explanation of equalization factors available to the public; and (iii) county assessors to make an additional set of disclosures with a change in assessment notice; and

WHEREAS, Public Act 96-1418 also created 7 Taxpayer Action Boards; and

WHEREAS, Taxpayer Action Boards have the following goals: (i) to oversee the implementation of P.A. 96-122 with an emphasis on the transparency and disclosure provisions of that Public Act; (ii) to make recommendations about other useful disclosures in addition to those required by P.A. 96-122; and (iii) to make recommendations concerning the implementation of the transparency reform provisions of P.A. 96-122 in their respective counties; and

WHEREAS, Each Taxpayer Action Board is required to conduct a study that critically evaluates the manner in which its county assesses residential property and examines the accuracy of computer-assisted mass appraisal; as part of its study, each Board shall conduct at least 2 public hearings; and

WHEREAS, Each Taxpayer Action Board must report to the Governor and the General Assembly summarizing its findings, must maintain and administer a website cataloguing taxpayer assistance information linked to the Department of Revenue's website, must propose to its county government changes to property tax policies and procedures, if appropriate, and must propose to the Department of Revenue changes to property tax policies and procedures, if appropriate; and

WHEREAS, A Taxpayer Action Board was to be established in each of the following counties: Cook, DuPage, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry, and Will; each Board was to be composed of 7 members; and

WHEREAS, The 7 members of each board are to be named by the Governor and serve 2-years terms; and

WHEREAS, As of February 14, 2012 there have been no appointments made by Governor Quinn to any of the 7 boards; and

WHEREAS, No studies, reports, or findings have been published; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call on Governor Quinn to immediately appoint members to the Taxpayer Action Boards to research the property tax system in each of their respective counties to help identify ways to make the systems more transparent; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the Governor.