Bill Text: IL HR0847 | 2011-2012 | 97th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Urges the Governor to appoint members to the Taxpayer Action Boards.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2)

Status: (Failed) 2013-01-08 - Session Sine Die [HR0847 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2011-HR0847-Introduced.html

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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

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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

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(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

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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.