Bill Text: IL HB3719 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, where assessment records are presently maintained in electronic format, the township assessor, multi-township assessor, or chief county assessment officer shall make those records available for immediate public inspection through Internet access. Provides that where assessment records, or some of them, are not presently maintained in electronic format, the township assessor, multi-township assessor, or chief county assessment officer shall convert all assessment records into electronic format and maintain those records in that format. Provides that those records shall be made available for immediate public inspection, preferably through Internet access. Contains provisions concerning requests for assessment records. In provisions providing that property records shall contain the elements (or basis) of valuation and computations that are taken into consideration by the chief county assessment officer in determining the fair cash value of property, provides that those elements include, but are not limited to, capitalization rates and tax loads, rental income data and any adjustments thereto, ratios of expenses to income, net income, vacancy and collection loss, reproduction or replacement cost calculators or manuals, physical, functional, and economic depreciation or obsolescence, and comparable sales and sales adjustment factors. Contains provisions concerning tax objections in the circuit court. Repeals provisions providing that the circuit court shall consider tax objections concerning valuation without regard to the correctness of any practice, procedure, or method of valuation followed by the assessor, board of appeals, or board of review in making or reviewing the assessment, and without regard to the intent or motivation of any assessing official. Effective immediately.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2023-03-10 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3719 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HB3719-Introduced.html
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1 | AN ACT concerning revenue.
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2 | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
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3 | represented in the General Assembly:
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4 | Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Sections 9-20, 16-8, 16-105, and 23-15 as follows:
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6 | (35 ILCS 200/9-20)
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7 | Sec. 9-20. Property assessment records record cards . | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | (a) In all counties, all property records record
cards | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | maintained by a township assessor, multi-township assessor, or | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | chief
county assessment officer shall be public records, and | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | shall be available for
public inspection during business | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | hours, subject to reasonable rules and
regulations of the | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | custodian of the records. Upon request and payment of such
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14 | reasonable fee established by the custodian, a copy or | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | printout shall be
provided to any person.
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16 | (b) Property assessment records record cards may be | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | established and maintained on electronic
equipment or | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | microfiche, and that system may be the exclusive record of
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19 | property information. Where assessment records are presently | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | maintained in electronic format, the township assessor, | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | multi-township assessor, or chief county assessment officer | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | shall make those records available for immediate public | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | inspection through Internet access. Where assessment records, |
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1 | or some of them, are not presently maintained in electronic | ||||||
2 | format, the township assessor, multi-township assessor, or | ||||||
3 | chief county assessment officer shall, as soon as may be | ||||||
4 | feasible, convert all assessment records into electronic | ||||||
5 | format and maintain those records in that format thereafter, | ||||||
6 | and shall, as soon as feasible, make those records available | ||||||
7 | for immediate public inspection, preferably through Internet | ||||||
8 | access. | ||||||
9 | (c) When a person requests a copy of a record maintained in | ||||||
10 | an electronic format, the custodian of the records shall | ||||||
11 | furnish it in the electronic format specified by the | ||||||
12 | requester, if feasible. If it is not feasible to furnish the | ||||||
13 | records in the specified electronic format, then the custodian | ||||||
14 | shall furnish it in the format in which it is maintained by the | ||||||
15 | assessor or chief county assessment officer or in paper format | ||||||
16 | at the option of the requester. The assessor or chief county | ||||||
17 | assessment officer may charge the requester for the actual | ||||||
18 | cost of purchasing the recording medium, whether disc, | ||||||
19 | diskette, tape or other medium. The requester may not be | ||||||
20 | charged for the costs of any search and review of the records | ||||||
21 | or other personnel costs associated with reproducing the | ||||||
22 | records, except that charges may be made in cases of | ||||||
23 | commercial requests as provided in subsection (f) of Section 6 | ||||||
24 | of the Freedom of Information Act.
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25 | (d) "Commercial request" has the meaning provided in the | ||||||
26 | Freedom of Information Act, provided that any request made by |
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1 | a taxpayer or the taxpayer's legal representative for purposes | ||||||
2 | of reviewing or challenging the accuracy, legality, or | ||||||
3 | constitutionality of the taxpayer's assessment or other | ||||||
4 | assessments in relation to such a review or challenge shall | ||||||
5 | not be considered to be a commercial request. | ||||||
6 | (Source: P.A. 83-1312; 88-455.)
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7 | (35 ILCS 200/16-8)
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8 | Sec. 16-8. Books and records of chief county assessment | ||||||
9 | officer.
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10 | (a) In
counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, the | ||||||
11 | chief county assessment
officer shall maintain records of the | ||||||
12 | assessed value of each parcel of property
and shall enter upon | ||||||
13 | appropriate the property records record card of each town or | ||||||
14 | city lot or
parcel of
land the elements (or basis) of valuation | ||||||
15 | and computations that are taken into
consideration by the | ||||||
16 | chief county assessment officer in ascertaining and
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17 | determining the fair
cash value of each town or city lot or | ||||||
18 | parcel of land and improvements of each improvement
thereon, | ||||||
19 | including the basic approach (cost, sales comparison, or | ||||||
20 | income) used to estimate the value of the property, and all | ||||||
21 | other elements or factors (shown by percentages or otherwise) | ||||||
22 | that were
taken into consideration in determining the fair | ||||||
23 | cash value of each parcel of property, including, but not | ||||||
24 | limited to, capitalization rates and tax loads, rental income | ||||||
25 | data and any adjustments thereto, ratios of expenses to |
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1 | income, net income, vacancy and collection loss, reproduction | ||||||
2 | or replacement cost calculators or manuals, physical, | ||||||
3 | functional, and economic depreciation or obsolescence, and | ||||||
4 | comparable sales and sales adjustment factors. The disclosure | ||||||
5 | of the elements (or basis) of valuation on the assessment | ||||||
6 | records shall be sufficient to explain how the fair cash value | ||||||
7 | and the assessment of each parcel of property was estimated | ||||||
8 | and determined by the chief county assessment officer as | ||||||
9 | enhancing or detracting elements (such as depth,
corner, | ||||||
10 | alley, railway or other elements) .
The assessment officer | ||||||
11 | shall maintain the records for at least 10 years.
Upon request | ||||||
12 | by the board of appeals (until the first Monday in December | ||||||
13 | 1998
and the board of
review beginning the first Monday in | ||||||
14 | December 1998 and thereafter), the officer
shall immediately | ||||||
15 | furnish all of the requested
records to the
board.
The records | ||||||
16 | shall be available, on request, to the taxpayer at any time, as | ||||||
17 | provided in Section 9-20 .
The chief county assessment
officer | ||||||
18 | shall certify, in writing, the amount of the assessment to the
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19 | board. If the records maintained by the chief county | ||||||
20 | assessment officer at
the time the assessment is certified to | ||||||
21 | the board and at all times thereafter do not disclose under | ||||||
22 | subsection (a)
contain none of the elements (or basis) of | ||||||
23 | valuation for the parcel sufficiently to explain how the | ||||||
24 | valuation of that parcel was determined , then any
increase by | ||||||
25 | the chief county assessment officer
shall be considered | ||||||
26 | invalid by the board of review, the Property Tax Appeal Board, |
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1 | or the circuit court acting on
a complaint under this Code | ||||||
2 | Section 16-120 ; and no action by the board of review under
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3 | Section 16-120 shall result in an increase in the valuation | ||||||
4 | for the parcel for
the current assessment year.
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5 | (b) In counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, the | ||||||
6 | notice given by
the chief county assessment officer to a | ||||||
7 | taxpayer of a proposed increase in
assessment shall designate | ||||||
8 | the reason for the increase. If a taxpayer files an
assessment | ||||||
9 | complaint with the chief county assessment officer, the | ||||||
10 | notification
to the taxpayer of a determination on the | ||||||
11 | assessment complaint shall designate
the reason for the | ||||||
12 | result.
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13 | (c) The provisions of this Section shall be applicable | ||||||
14 | beginning with the
assessment for the 1997 tax year.
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15 | (Source: P.A. 89-718, eff. 3-7-97; 90-4, eff. 3-7-97.)
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16 | (35 ILCS 200/16-105)
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17 | Sec. 16-105. Time of meeting - Public records. In counties | ||||||
18 | with 3,000,000
or more inhabitants, the board of appeals
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19 | (until the first Monday in December 1998 and the board of | ||||||
20 | review
beginning
the first Monday in December 1998 and | ||||||
21 | thereafter)
shall meet on or before the second
Monday in | ||||||
22 | September in each year for the purpose of revising the | ||||||
23 | assessment of
property as provided for in this Code. The | ||||||
24 | meeting may be adjourned from day
to day as may be necessary.
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25 | All hearings conducted by the board under this Code shall |
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1 | be
open
to the public. All files maintained by the board | ||||||
2 | relating to the matters
specified in Sections 16-95, 16-100, | ||||||
3 | and 16-140 shall be available for public
inspection during | ||||||
4 | regular office hours. However, only the actual portions of
the | ||||||
5 | income tax return relating to the property for which a | ||||||
6 | complaint has been
filed shall be a public record. Copies of | ||||||
7 | such records shall be furnished upon
request in the same | ||||||
8 | manner and upon the same terms as is provided with respect to | ||||||
9 | assessment records under Section 9-20. Whenever possible, all | ||||||
10 | such records shall be maintained by the board of review in | ||||||
11 | electronic format and shall be made available for immediate | ||||||
12 | public inspection, preferably through internet access . The | ||||||
13 | board may charge for the costs of copying, at 35¢ per page of
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14 | legal size or smaller and $1 for each larger page.
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15 | (Source: P.A. 88-455; 89-126, eff. 7-11-95; 89-671, eff. | ||||||
16 | 8-14-96.)
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17 | (35 ILCS 200/23-15)
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18 | Sec. 23-15. Tax objection procedure and hearing.
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19 | (a) A tax objection complaint under Section 23-10 shall be | ||||||
20 | filed in the
circuit court of the county in which the subject | ||||||
21 | property is located.
Joinder of plaintiffs shall be permitted | ||||||
22 | to the same extent permitted by law in
any personal action | ||||||
23 | pending in the court and shall be in accordance with
Section | ||||||
24 | 2-404 of the Code of Civil
Procedure; provided,
however, that | ||||||
25 | no complaint shall be filed as a class action. The
complaint |
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1 | shall name the county collector as defendant and may name | ||||||
2 | additional defendants as appropriate to the issues, and shall | ||||||
3 | specify any
objections that the plaintiff may have to the | ||||||
4 | taxes in question. No appearance
or answer by the county | ||||||
5 | collector to the tax objection complaint, nor any
further | ||||||
6 | pleadings, need be filed. Amendments to the complaint may be | ||||||
7 | made to
the same extent which, by law, could be made in any | ||||||
8 | personal action pending in
the court. Answers, motions, and | ||||||
9 | other matters related to pleadings shall be in accordance with | ||||||
10 | the Code of Civil Procedure, provided that: (1) the county | ||||||
11 | collector need not appear or answer or otherwise plead in | ||||||
12 | response to the complaint except by order of the court; (2) the | ||||||
13 | court shall set by rule or order the initial time for other | ||||||
14 | defendants to answer or otherwise plead in response to the | ||||||
15 | complaint; and (3) in all cases in which the issues require the | ||||||
16 | collector to answer or otherwise plead in response to the | ||||||
17 | complaint, the court shall set by order the initial time for | ||||||
18 | such answer or other response. The time set for answers or | ||||||
19 | other responses shall be no later than 30 days after the | ||||||
20 | court's entry of the first case management order or after | ||||||
21 | joinder of a defendant subsequent to the first case management | ||||||
22 | order.
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23 | (b) (1) The court, sitting without a jury, shall hear and | ||||||
24 | determine all
objections specified to the taxes, assessments, | ||||||
25 | or levies in question. This
Section shall be construed to | ||||||
26 | provide a complete remedy for any claims with
respect to those |
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1 | taxes, assessments, or levies, excepting only matters for
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2 | which an exclusive remedy is provided elsewhere in this Code.
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3 | (2) The taxes, assessments, and levies that are the | ||||||
4 | subject of the objection
shall be presumed correct and legal, | ||||||
5 | but the presumption is rebuttable.
The plaintiff has the | ||||||
6 | burden of proving any contested matter of fact is by
clear and | ||||||
7 | convincing evidence.
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8 | (3) Objections to assessments shall be heard de novo by | ||||||
9 | the court. The
court shall grant relief in the cases in which | ||||||
10 | the objector meets the burden of
proof under this Section and | ||||||
11 | shows an assessment to be incorrect or illegal.
If an | ||||||
12 | objection is made claiming incorrect valuation, the court | ||||||
13 | shall
consider the objection without regard to the correctness | ||||||
14 | of any practice,
procedure, or method of valuation followed by | ||||||
15 | the assessor, board of appeals,
or board of review in making or | ||||||
16 | reviewing the assessment, and without regard
to the intent or | ||||||
17 | motivation of any assessing official. The doctrine known
as | ||||||
18 | constructive fraud is hereby abolished for purposes of all | ||||||
19 | challenges to
taxes, assessments, or levies.
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20 | (c) If the court orders a refund of any part of the taxes | ||||||
21 | paid, it shall
also order the payment of interest as provided | ||||||
22 | in Section 23-20. Appeals may be
taken from final judgments as | ||||||
23 | in other civil cases.
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24 | (d) This amendatory Act of 1995 shall apply to all tax | ||||||
25 | objection matters
still pending for any tax year, except as | ||||||
26 | provided in Sections 23-5 and 23-10
regarding procedures and |
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1 | time limitations for payment of taxes and filing tax
objection | ||||||
2 | complaints.
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3 | (e) In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if | ||||||
4 | the court
renders a decision lowering the assessment of a | ||||||
5 | particular parcel on which a
residence occupied by the owner | ||||||
6 | is situated, the reduced assessment, subject to
equalization, | ||||||
7 | shall remain in effect for the remainder of the general
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8 | assessment period as provided in Sections 9-215 through 9-225, | ||||||
9 | unless that
parcel is subsequently sold in an arm's length | ||||||
10 | transaction establishing a fair
cash value for the parcel that | ||||||
11 | is different from the fair cash value on which
the court's | ||||||
12 | assessment is based, or unless the decision of the
court is | ||||||
13 | reversed or modified upon review.
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14 | (Source: P.A. 88-455; 88-642, eff. 9-9-94; 89-126, eff. | ||||||
15 | 7-11-95; 89-290, eff.
1-1-96; 89-593, eff. 8-1-96; 89-626, | ||||||
16 | eff. 8-9-96.)
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17 | Section 99. Effective date. This Act takes effect upon | ||||||
18 | becoming law.
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