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Public Act 91-0686
SB1144 Enrolled LRB9106152PTpk
AN ACT to amend the Property Tax Code by changing Section
14-15.
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 changing
Section 14-15 as follows:
(35 ILCS 200/14-15)
Sec. 14-15. Certificate of error; counties of 3,000,000
or more.
(a) In counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, if,
after the assessment is certified pursuant to Section 16-150,
but subject to the limitations of subsection (c) of this
Section, the county assessor discovers an error or mistake in
the assessment, the assessor shall execute a certificate
setting forth the nature and cause of the error. The
certificate when endorsed by the county assessor, or when
endorsed by the county assessor and board of appeals (until
the first Monday in December 1998 and the board of review
beginning the first Monday in December 1998 and thereafter)
where the certificate is executed for any assessment which
was the subject of a complaint filed in the board of appeals
(until the first Monday in December 1998 and the board of
review beginning the first Monday in December 1998 and
thereafter) for the tax year for which the certificate is
issued, may, either be certified according to the procedure
authorized by this Section or be presented and received in
evidence in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Certification is authorized, at the discretion of the county
assessor, for: (1) certificates of error allowing homestead
exemptions pursuant to Sections 15-170, 15-172, and 15-175;
(2) certificates of error on residential property of 6 units
or less; (3) certificates of error allowing exemption of the
property pursuant to Section 14-25; and (4) other
certificates of error reducing assessed value by less than
$100,000. Any certificate of error not certified shall be
presented to the court. The county assessor shall develop
reasonable procedures for the filing and processing of
certificates of error. Prior to the certification or
presentation to the court, the county assessor or his or her
designee shall execute and include in the certificate of
error a statement attesting that all procedural requirements
pertaining to the issuance of the certificate of error have
been met and that in fact an error exists. When so introduced
in evidence such certificate shall become a part of the court
records, and shall not be removed from the files except upon
the order of the court.
Certificates of error that will be presented to the court
shall be filed as an objection in the application for
judgment and order of sale for the year in relation to which
the certificate is made or as an amendment to the objection
under subsection (b). Certificates of error that are to be
certified according to the procedure authorized by this
Section need not be presented to the court as an objection or
an amendment under subsection (b). The State's Attorney of
the county in which the property is situated shall mail a
copy of any final judgment entered by the court regarding any
certificate of error to the taxpayer of record for the year
in question.
Any unpaid taxes after the entry of the final judgment by
the court or certification on certificates issued under this
Section may be included in a special tax sale, provided that
an advertisement is published and a notice is mailed to the
person in whose name the taxes were last assessed, in a form
and manner substantially similar to the advertisement and
notice required under Sections 21-110 and 21-135. The
advertisement and sale shall be subject to all provisions of
law regulating the annual advertisement and sale of
delinquent property, to the extent that those provisions may
be made applicable.
A certificate of error certified under this Section shall
be given effect by the county treasurer, who shall mark the
tax books and, upon receipt of one of the following
certificates from the county assessor or the county assessor
and the board of review where the board of review is required
to endorse the certificate of error, shall issue refunds to
the taxpayer accordingly:
"CERTIFICATION
I, .................., county assessor, hereby certify
that the Certificates of Error set out on the attached
list have been duly issued to correct an error or mistake
in the assessment."
"CERTIFICATION
I, .................., county assessor, and we,
........................................................,
members of the board of review, hereby certify that the
Certificates of Error set out on the attached list have
been duly issued to correct an error or mistake in the
assessment and that any certificates of error required to
be endorsed by the board of review have been so
endorsed."
The county treasurer has the power to mark the tax books
to reflect the issuance of certificates of error certified
according to the procedure authorized in this Section for
certificates of error issued under Section 14-25 or
certificates of error issued to and including 3 years after
the date on which the annual judgment and order of sale for
that tax year was first entered. The county treasurer has
the power to issue refunds to the taxpayer as set forth above
until all refunds authorized by this Section have been
completed.
To the extent that the certificate of error obviates the
liability for nonpayment of taxes, certification of a
certificate of error according to the procedure authorized in
this Section shall operate to vacate any judgment or
forfeiture as to that year's taxes, and the warrant books and
judgment books shall be marked to reflect that the judgment
or forfeiture has been vacated.
(b) Nothing in subsection (a) of this Section shall be
construed to prohibit the execution, endorsement, issuance,
and adjudication of a certificate of error if (i) the annual
judgment and order of sale for the tax year in question is
reopened for further proceedings upon consent of the county
collector and county assessor, represented by the State's
Attorney, and (ii) a new final judgment is subsequently
entered pursuant to the certificate. This subsection (b)
shall be construed as declarative of existing law and not as
a new enactment.
(c) No certificate of error, other than a certificate to
establish an exemption under Section 14-25, shall be executed
for any tax year more than 3 years after the date on which
the annual judgment and order of sale for that tax year was
first entered, except that during calendar years 1999 and
2000 a certificate of error may be executed for any tax year,
provided that the error or mistake in the assessment was
discovered no more than 3 years after the date on which the
annual judgment and order of sale for that tax year was first
entered.
(d) The time limitation of subsection (c) shall not
apply to a certificate of error correcting an assessment to
$1, under Section 10-35, on a parcel that a subdivision or
planned development has acquired by adverse possession, if
during the tax year for which the certificate is executed the
subdivision or planned development used the parcel as common
area, as defined in Section 10-35, and if application for the
certificate of error is made prior to December 1, 1997.
(e) The changes made by this amendatory Act of the 91st
General Assembly apply to certificates of error issued
before, on, and after the effective date of this amendatory
Act of the 91st General Assembly.
(Source: P.A. 90-4, eff. 3-7-97; 90-288, eff. 8-1-97; 90-655,
eff. 7-30-98; 91-393, eff. 7-30-99.)
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.
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