Cook County property tax break is extended - But seniors must reapply for it every year

Cook County property tax break is extended - But seniors must reapply for it every year
By Kristen Mack
Copyright © 2010, Chicago Tribune
6:44 p.m. CDT, August 1, 2010
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-quinn-property-tax-legislation20100801,0,5501703.story


Faced with a politically tricky situation, Gov. Pat Quinn on Sunday signed legislation to extend a popular property tax break for Cook County homeowners but that also requires senior citizens to reapply each year for a tax exemption.

The law continues a 7 percent limit in annual growth of a home's value for tax purposes. Chicagoans will get up to a $20,000 exemption on property taxes billed this fall under the law, according to Assessor James Houlihan's office. Without it, the tax exemption would have dropped to $6,000.

But the measure also included a provision to make 280,000 seniors who now automatically get an exemption to reapply annually for the tax break. That means some senior homeowners could end up with higher property tax bills if they fail to file the correct paperwork year after year.

The Tribune reported Saturday that House Speaker Michael Madigan backed the little-noticed addition, which was opposed by two fellow Chicago Democrats: Mayor Richard Daley and Houlihan.

If Quinn vetoed or changed the legislation, he ran the risk of losing property tax relief for all Cook homeowners because the General Assembly would have had to vote them up or down. By signing it, he risks potentially angering senior citizens ahead of the Nov. 2 election.

Quinn said the provision requiring seniors to reapply for tax relief is "unnecessary" but can be dealt with later.

"The greater good is to enact a (property tax) cap," Quinn said. Without it, homeowners would not have property tax relief this year, he said.

House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie, Madigan's top lieutenant and the sponsor of the senior exemption amendment, has said the change is needed to weed out people who abuse the system by claiming the exemption before they are 65. Currie, a Chicago Democrat, has said it should be the responsibility of the person claiming an exemption to show that he or she qualifies.

The senior citizen homestead exemption results in tax breaks ranging from $157 for qualified homeowners last year in upscale Kenilworth to $823 for seniors in impoverished Ford Heights. In Chicago, the average senior break last year was $193.

Under the legislation, the automatic rollover for homeowners age 65 and older will end in fall 2011. At that point, senior homeowners need to fill out annual applications sent by mail and return them to the assessor's office. They'd also need to send copies of their driver's licenses and property tax bills, officials said.

Quinn's Republican foe, Sen. Bill Brady, of Bloomington, voted for the legislation, but his campaign criticized the governor on the senior issue.

"Under Quinn's plan, instead of automatically giving Cook County seniors a tax break as long as they own their home," spokeswoman Patty Schuh said, the next Cook County property tax assessor "will be notifying 280,000 Cook County senior citizens with promises of property tax savings every year."

Quinn backs an income tax increase to balance the budget, and he criticizes Brady for saying that cuts alone can do it and for failing to provide specifics.

kmack@tribune.com