Bill Text: IL HB2609 | 2017-2018 | 100th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Amends the Property Tax Code. Creates a resident low-income assessment freeze homestead exemption. Provides that the maximum income limitation is $75,000 for applicants who have occupied the residence in a low-income area 5 years or more. Indexes the maximum limitation to the Consumer Price Index. Effective immediately.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Failed) 2019-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HB2609 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2017-HB2609-Introduced.html

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100TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY State of Illinois 2017 and 2018 HB2609 Introduced , by Rep. Sonya M. Harper SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
35 ILCS 200/15-172.5 new
Amends the Property Tax Code. Creates a resident low-income assessment freeze homestead exemption. Provides that the maximum income limitation is $75,000 for applicants who have occupied the residence in a low-income area 5 years or more. Indexes the maximum limitation to the Consumer Price Index. Effective immediately.
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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY HOUSING AFFORDABILITY IMPACT NOTE ACT MAY APPLY
A BILL FOR
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AN ACT concerning revenue.
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 15-172.5 as follows:
(35 ILCS 200/15-172.5 new)
Sec. 15-172.5. Resident Low-Income Assessment Freeze
Homestead Exemption.
(a) This Section may be cited as the Resident Low-Income
Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption.
(b) As used in this Section:
"Applicant" means an individual who has filed an
application under this Section.
"Base amount" means the base year equalized assessed value
of the residence plus the first year's equalized assessed value
of any added improvements which increased the assessed value of
the residence after the base year.
"Base year" means the taxable year prior to the taxable
year for which the applicant first qualifies and applies for
the exemption, provided that, in the prior taxable year, the
property was improved with a permanent structure that was
occupied as a residence by the applicant who was liable for
paying real property taxes on the property and who was either

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(i) an owner of record of the property or had legal or
equitable interest in the property as evidenced by a written
instrument or (ii) had a legal or equitable interest as a
lessee in the parcel of property that was single family
residence.
"Chief County Assessment Officer" means the County
Assessor or Supervisor of Assessments of the county in which
the property is located.
"Equalized assessed value" means the assessed value of the
property as equalized by the Department of Revenue.
"Household" means the applicant, the spouse of the
applicant, and all persons using the residence of the applicant
as their principal place of residence.
"Household income" means the combined income of the members
of a household for the calendar year preceding the taxable
year.
"Income" has the same meaning as provided in Section 3.07
of the Senior Citizens and Persons with Disabilities Property
Tax Relief Act, but does not include veteran's benefits.
"Internal Revenue Code of 1986" means the United States
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or any successor law or laws
relating to federal income taxes in effect for the year
preceding the taxable year.
"Life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative" means
a facility as defined in Section 2 of the Life Care Facilities
Act.

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"Low-income area" means a census tract with a median income
at or below the Federal Poverty Level, issued by the United
States Department of Health and Human Services.
"Maximum income limitation" means:
(1) in taxable year 2017, (A) $50,000 for applicants
who have occupied the residence for less than 5 years and
(B) $75,000 for applicants who have occupied the residence
for 5 or more years; and
(2) in taxable year 2018 and thereafter, (A) for
applicants who have occupied the residence for less than 5
years, an amount equal to the maximum income limitation for
the immediately prior taxable year for applicants who have
occupied the residence for less than 5 years increased by
the lesser of (i) 2% or (ii) the percentage increase during
the immediately prior taxable year in the Consumer Price
Index for All Urban Consumers for all items published by
the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Labor
Statistics and (B) for applicants who have occupied the
residence for 5 or more years, an amount equal to the
maximum income limitation for the immediately prior
taxable year for applicants who have occupied the residence
for 5 or more years increased by the lesser of (i) 2% or
(ii) the percentage increase during the immediately prior
taxable year in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban
Consumers for all items published by the United States
Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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"Residence" means the principal dwelling place and
appurtenant structures used for residential purposes in this
State occupied on January 1 of the taxable year by a household
and so much of the surrounding land, constituting the parcel
upon which the dwelling place is situated, as is used for
residential purposes. If the chief county assessment officer
has established a specific legal description for a portion of
property constituting the residence, then that portion of
property shall be deemed the residence for the purposes of this
Section.
"Taxable year" means the calendar year during which ad
valorem property taxes payable in the next succeeding year are
levied.
(c) Beginning in taxable year 2017, an assessment freeze
homestead exemption is granted for real property that is
improved with a permanent structure that is occupied as a
residence by an applicant who (i) resides in a low-income area,
(ii) has a household income that does not exceed the maximum
income limitation, (iii) is liable for paying real property
taxes on the property, (iv) is an owner of record of the
property or has a legal or equitable interest in the property
as evidenced by a written instrument, and (v) who has occupied
the residence for 5 years or more. This homestead exemption
shall also apply to a leasehold interest in a parcel of
property improved with a permanent structure that is a single
family residence that is occupied as a residence by a person

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who (i) resides in a low-income area, (ii) has a household
income that does not exceed the maximum income limitation,
(iii) has a legal or equitable ownership interest in the
property as lessee, (iv) is liable for the payment of real
property taxes on that property, and (v) who has occupied this
residence for 5 years or more.
The amount of the exemption is the equalized assessed value
of the residence in the taxable year for which application is
made minus the base amount.
When the applicant is a surviving spouse of an applicant
for a prior year for the same residence for which an exemption
under this Section has been granted, the base year and base
amount for that residence are the same as for the applicant for
the prior year.
Each year at the time the assessment books are certified to
the County Clerk, the Board of Review or Board of Appeals shall
give to the County Clerk a list of the assessed values of
improvements on each parcel qualifying for this exemption that
were added after the base year for this parcel and that
increased the assessed value of the property.
In the case of land improved with an apartment building
owned and operated as a cooperative or a building that is a
life care facility that qualifies as a cooperative, the maximum
reduction from the equalized assessed value of the property is
limited to the sum of the reductions calculated for each unit
occupied as a residence by a person or persons (i) residing in

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a low-income area, (ii) with a household income that does not
exceed the maximum income limitation, (iii) who are liable, by
contract with the owner or owners of record, for paying real
property taxes on the property, (iv) who is an owner of record
of a legal or equitable interest in the cooperative apartment
building, other than a leasehold interest, and (v) who have
occupied the residence for 5 years or more. In the instance of
a cooperative where a homestead exemption has been granted
under this Section, the cooperative association or its
management firm shall credit the savings resulting from that
exemption only to the apportioned tax liability of the owner
who qualified for the exemption. Any person who willfully
refuses to credit that savings to an owner who qualifies for
the exemption is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
When a homestead exemption has been granted under this
Section and an applicant then becomes a resident of a facility
licensed under the Assisted Living and Shared Housing Act, the
Nursing Home Care Act, the Specialized Mental Health
Rehabilitation Act of 2013, the ID/DD Community Care Act, or
the MC/DD Act, the exemption shall be granted in subsequent
years so long as the residence (i) continues to be occupied by
the qualified applicant's spouse or (ii) if remaining
unoccupied, is still owned by the qualified applicant for the
homestead exemption.
When married persons maintain separate residences, the
exemption provided for in this Section may be claimed by only

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one of such persons and for only one residence.
In counties having 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, to
receive the exemption, a person may submit an application to
the chief county assessment officer of the county in which the
property is located during such period as may be specified by
the chief county assessment officer. The chief county
assessment officer in counties of 3,000,000 or more inhabitants
shall annually give notice of the application period by mail or
by publication. In counties having less than 3,000,000
inhabitants, to receive the exemption, a person shall submit an
application by July 1 of each taxable year to the chief county
assessment officer of the county in which the property is
located. A county having less than 3,000,000 inhabitants may,
by ordinance, establish a date for submission of applications
that is different than July 1. The applicant shall submit with
the application an affidavit verifying the applicant's
qualifications for the exemption under this Section. The
Department shall establish, by rule, a method for verifying the
accuracy of such affidavits, and the chief county assessment
officer may conduct audits of any taxpayer claiming an
exemption under this Section to verify that the taxpayer is
eligible to receive the exemption. Each application shall
contain or be verified by a written declaration that it is made
under the penalties of perjury. A taxpayer's signing a
fraudulent application under this Act is perjury, as defined in
Section 32-2 of the Criminal Code of 2012. The applications

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shall be clearly marked as applications for the Resident
Low-Income Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption and must
contain a notice that any taxpayer who receives the exemption
is subject to an audit by the chief county assessment officer.
If an applicant fails to file the application required by
this Section in a timely manner and this failure to file is due
to a mental or physical condition sufficiently severe so as to
render the applicant incapable of filing the application in a
timely manner, the chief county assessment officer may extend
the filing deadline for a period of 30 days after the applicant
regains the capability to file the application, but in no case
may the filing deadline be extended beyond 3 months of the
original filing deadline. In order to receive the extension
provided in this paragraph, the applicant shall provide the
chief county assessment officer with a signed statement from
the applicant's physician, advanced practice nurse, or
physician assistant stating the nature and extent of the
condition, that, in the physician's, advanced practice
nurse's, or physician assistant's opinion, the condition was so
severe that it rendered the applicant incapable of filing the
application in a timely manner, and the date on which the
applicant regained the capability to file the application.
The chief county assessment officer may determine the
eligibility of a life care facility that qualifies as a
cooperative to receive the benefits provided by this Section by
use of an affidavit, application, visual inspection,

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questionnaire, or other reasonable method in order to insure
that the tax savings resulting from the exemption are credited
by the management firm to the apportioned tax liability of each
qualifying resident. The chief county assessment officer may
request reasonable proof that the management firm has so
credited that exemption.
Except as provided in this Section, all information
received by the chief county assessment officer or the
Department from applications filed under this Section, or from
any investigation conducted under the provisions of this
Section, shall be confidential, except for official purposes or
pursuant to official procedures for collection of any State or
local tax or enforcement of any civil or criminal penalty or
sanction imposed by this Act or by any statute or ordinance
imposing a State or local tax. Any person who divulges any such
information in any manner, except in accordance with a proper
judicial order, is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.
Nothing contained in this Section shall prevent the
Director or chief county assessment officer from publishing or
making available reasonable statistics concerning the
operation of the exemption contained in this Section in which
the contents of claims are grouped into aggregates in such a
way that information contained in any individual claim shall
not be disclosed.
(d) Each Chief County Assessment Officer shall annually
publish a notice of availability of the exemption provided

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under this Section. The notice shall be published at least 60
days but no more than 75 days prior to the date on which the
application must be submitted to the Chief County Assessment
Officer of the county in which the property is located. The
notice shall appear in a newspaper of general circulation in
the county.
Notwithstanding Sections 6 and 8 of the State Mandates Act,
no reimbursement by the State is required for the
implementation of any mandate created by this Section.
Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon
becoming law.