Bill Text: IL HB3781 | 2021-2022 | 102nd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that, in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, a person filing a tax objection complaint shall serve a copy of the tax objection complaint by electronic mail upon the applicable municipality and the school district. Provides that an objection to an assessment shall not be allowed by the court in a county with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants if the person paying the taxes is unable to provide written evidence to the State's Attorney that a copy of the tax objection complaint was served on the municipality and the school district. Provides that, if an objection is made claiming incorrect valuation, the complaint shall specify the current assessment and the assessment alleged by the plaintiff to be correct. Provides that, when a taxing district has intervened in a tax objection proceeding and filed its appearance, compromise agreements shall not be accepted by the court over the objection of the intervening taxing district.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-02-18 - Rule 19(a) / Re-referred to Rules Committee [HB3781 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2021-HB3781-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 23-10, 23-15, and 23-30 as follows:
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6 | (35 ILCS 200/23-10)
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7 | Sec. 23-10. Tax objections and copies. Beginning with the | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | 2003
tax year, in
counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | the person paying the taxes due
as provided in Section 23-5 may | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | file
a tax
objection
complaint under Section 23-15 within 165 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | days after the first
penalty
date of the final installment of | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | taxes for the year in question.
In counties with 3,000,000 or | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | more inhabitants, within 30 days of the filing of the tax | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | objection complaint, the person filing the tax objection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | complaint shall serve a copy of the tax objection complaint by | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | electronic mail upon the municipality and the school districts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | whose tax moneys may be affected by the tax objection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | complaint. The person providing a copy of the tax objection | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | complaint shall send such copy to the electronic mail address | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | for the municipality and school districts used by the local | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | county clerk for tax extension purposes. The local county | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | clerk shall make such electronic mail addresses readily | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | available. Beginning with the 2003 tax year, in counties with |
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1 | less than 3,000,000
inhabitants, the person paying the taxes
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2 | due as provided in Section 23-5 may file a tax objection | ||||||
3 | complaint under
Section 23-15 within 75 days after the first | ||||||
4 | penalty date of the final
installment of taxes for the year in | ||||||
5 | question.
However, in all counties in cases in which the | ||||||
6 | complaint is permitted to be
filed without
payment under | ||||||
7 | Section 23-5, it must be filed prior to the entry of judgment
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8 | under Section 21-175. In addition, the time specified for | ||||||
9 | payment of the tax
provided in Section 23-5 shall not be | ||||||
10 | construed to delay or prevent the entry
of judgment against, | ||||||
11 | or the sale of, tax delinquent property if the taxes have
not | ||||||
12 | been paid prior to the entry of judgment under Section 21-175.
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13 | An objection to an assessment for any year shall not be
allowed | ||||||
14 | by the court, however, (i) if an administrative remedy was | ||||||
15 | available by
complaint to the board of appeals or board of | ||||||
16 | review under Section 16-55 or
Section 16-115, unless that | ||||||
17 | remedy was exhausted prior to the filing of the tax
objection | ||||||
18 | complaint ; or (ii) in counties with 3,000,000 or more | ||||||
19 | inhabitants, if the person paying the taxes is unable to | ||||||
20 | provide written evidence to the State's Attorney that a copy | ||||||
21 | of the tax objection complaint was served by electronic mail | ||||||
22 | on the municipality and school district. .
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23 | When any complaint is filed with the court in a
county
with | ||||||
24 | less than
3,000,000 inhabitants, the plaintiff shall
file 3 | ||||||
25 | copies of
the complaint with the clerk of the circuit court. | ||||||
26 | Any
complaint
or amendment
thereto shall contain (i) on the |
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1 | first page a listing of the taxing
districts
against which the | ||||||
2 | complaint is directed
and (ii) a summary of the
reasons
for the | ||||||
3 | tax
objections set
forth in the complaint with enough copies | ||||||
4 | of the summary to be distributed to
each of the
taxing | ||||||
5 | districts against which the complaint is directed.
Within 10 | ||||||
6 | days after
the complaint is
filed, the clerk of the circuit | ||||||
7 | court shall deliver one copy to the State's
Attorney and one | ||||||
8 | copy to the county clerk, taking their receipts therefor. The
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9 | county clerk shall, within 30 days from the last day for the | ||||||
10 | filing of
complaints, notify the duly elected or appointed | ||||||
11 | custodian
of funds for each
taxing district that may be | ||||||
12 | affected by the complaint,
stating (i) that a complaint has | ||||||
13 | been filed and (ii) the
summary of the reasons for the tax | ||||||
14 | objections set forth in the complaint.
Any amendment to a
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15 | complaint,
except any amendment
permitted to be made in open | ||||||
16 | court during the course of a hearing on the
complaint, shall | ||||||
17 | also be filed in triplicate, with one copy
delivered to the
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18 | State's Attorney and one copy delivered to the county clerk by | ||||||
19 | the clerk of the
circuit court. The State's Attorney shall | ||||||
20 | within 10 days of receiving his or
her copy of the amendment | ||||||
21 | notify the duly elected or appointed custodian of
funds for | ||||||
22 | each taxing district whose tax monies may be affected by the
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23 | amendment, stating (i) that the amendment has been filed and | ||||||
24 | (ii) the
summary of the reasons for the tax objections set | ||||||
25 | forth in the amended
complaint.
The State's Attorney shall | ||||||
26 | also notify the custodian and the county
clerk in writing of |
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1 | the date, time and place of any hearing before the court to
be | ||||||
2 | held upon the complaint or amended complaint not later than 4 | ||||||
3 | days prior to
the hearing. The notices provided in this | ||||||
4 | Section shall
be by letter addressed to the custodian or the | ||||||
5 | county clerk and may be
mailed by regular mail, postage | ||||||
6 | prepaid, postmarked within the required period,
but not less | ||||||
7 | than 4 days before a hearing.
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8 | (Source: P.A. 93-378, eff. 7-24-03.)
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9 | (35 ILCS 200/23-15)
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10 | Sec. 23-15. Tax objection procedure and hearing.
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11 | (a) A tax objection complaint under Section 23-10 shall be | ||||||
12 | filed in the
circuit court of the county in which the subject | ||||||
13 | property is located.
Joinder of plaintiffs shall be permitted | ||||||
14 | to the same extent permitted by law in
any personal action | ||||||
15 | pending in the court and shall be in accordance with
Section | ||||||
16 | 2-404 of the Code of Civil
Procedure; provided,
however, that | ||||||
17 | no complaint shall be filed as a class action. If an objection | ||||||
18 | is made claiming incorrect valuation, the complaint shall | ||||||
19 | specify the current assessment and the assessment alleged by | ||||||
20 | the plaintiff to be correct. The
complaint shall name the | ||||||
21 | county collector as defendant and shall specify any
objections | ||||||
22 | that the plaintiff may have to the taxes in question. No | ||||||
23 | appearance
or answer by the county collector to the tax | ||||||
24 | objection complaint, nor any
further pleadings, need be filed. | ||||||
25 | Amendments to the complaint may be made to
the same extent |
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1 | which, by law, could be made in any personal action pending in
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2 | the court.
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3 | (b) (1) The court, sitting without a jury, shall hear and | ||||||
4 | determine all
objections specified to the taxes, assessments, | ||||||
5 | or levies in question. This
Section shall be construed to | ||||||
6 | provide a complete remedy for any claims with
respect to those | ||||||
7 | taxes, assessments, or levies, excepting only matters for
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8 | which an exclusive remedy is provided elsewhere in this Code.
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9 | (2) The taxes, assessments, and levies that are the | ||||||
10 | subject of the objection
shall be presumed correct and legal, | ||||||
11 | but the presumption is rebuttable.
The plaintiff has the | ||||||
12 | burden of proving any contested matter of fact by
clear and | ||||||
13 | convincing evidence.
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14 | (3) Objections to assessments shall be heard de novo by | ||||||
15 | the court. The
court shall grant relief in the cases in which | ||||||
16 | the objector meets the burden of
proof under this Section and | ||||||
17 | shows an assessment to be incorrect or illegal.
If an | ||||||
18 | objection is made claiming incorrect valuation, the court | ||||||
19 | shall
consider the objection without regard to the correctness | ||||||
20 | of any practice,
procedure, or method of valuation followed by | ||||||
21 | the assessor, board of appeals,
or board of review in making or | ||||||
22 | reviewing the assessment, and without regard
to the intent or | ||||||
23 | motivation of any assessing official. The doctrine known
as | ||||||
24 | constructive fraud is hereby abolished for purposes of all | ||||||
25 | challenges to
taxes, assessments, or levies.
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26 | (c) If the court orders a refund of any part of the taxes |
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1 | paid, it shall
also order the payment of interest as provided | ||||||
2 | in Section 23-20. Appeals may be
taken from final judgments as | ||||||
3 | in other civil cases.
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4 | (d) This amendatory Act of 1995 shall apply to all tax | ||||||
5 | objection matters
still pending for any tax year, except as | ||||||
6 | provided in Sections 23-5 and 23-10
regarding procedures and | ||||||
7 | time limitations for payment of taxes and filing tax
objection | ||||||
8 | complaints.
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9 | (e) In counties with less than 3,000,000 inhabitants, if | ||||||
10 | the court
renders a decision lowering the assessment of a | ||||||
11 | particular parcel on which a
residence occupied by the owner | ||||||
12 | is situated, the reduced assessment, subject to
equalization, | ||||||
13 | shall remain in effect for the remainder of the general
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14 | assessment period as provided in Sections 9-215 through 9-225, | ||||||
15 | unless that
parcel is subsequently sold in an arm's length | ||||||
16 | transaction establishing a fair
cash value for the parcel that | ||||||
17 | is different from the fair cash value on which
the court's | ||||||
18 | assessment is based, or unless the decision of the
court is | ||||||
19 | reversed or modified upon review.
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20 | (Source: P.A. 88-455; 88-642, eff. 9-9-94; 89-126, eff. | ||||||
21 | 7-11-95; 89-290, eff.
1-1-96; 89-593, eff. 8-1-96; 89-626, | ||||||
22 | eff. 8-9-96.)
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23 | (35 ILCS 200/23-30)
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24 | Sec. 23-30. Conference on tax objection. Following the
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25 | filing of an objection under Section 23-10, the court may hold |
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1 | a
conference
with the objector and the State's Attorney. | ||||||
2 | Compromise
agreements on tax objections reached by conference | ||||||
3 | shall be filed with the
court, and the parties shall prepare an | ||||||
4 | order covering
the settlement
and submit the order to the | ||||||
5 | court for
entry. When a taxing district has intervened in a tax | ||||||
6 | objection proceeding and filed its appearance, compromise | ||||||
7 | agreements shall not be accepted by the court over the | ||||||
8 | objection of the intervening taxing district.
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9 | (Source: P.A. 88-455; 89-126, eff. 7-11-95.)
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