Assessor’s Office - Terry Kelly, CIAO – Township Assessor

 IMPORTANT NEWS! . . . . IMPORTANT NEWS! . . . . IMPORTANT NEWS!

Tax Bills

The Cook County Treasurer will be mailing first installment 2011 property tax bills at the end of January, 2012.  They are scheduled to arrive in mailboxes on or about February 1.  These bills will be exactly 55% of the previous year's total tax bill.  Any savings you might be entitled to due to a successful assessment appeal at the Cook County Assessor or the Board of Review will be reflected on the 2011 second installment bill, due to arrive in the second half of this year.  Savings from exemptions are also reflected on second installment bills.

2011 Taxpayer Exemption Applications

December 2011 - The Cook County Assessor's Office will begin to mail out 2011 exemption applications starting February 2012. Taxpayers with a prior history of a particular exemption will be sent a renewal application.

• Senior Citizen and Senior Freeze exemption applications should be available by February 1, 2012.
• Homeowner Exemption applications will also be available at this time.  Homeowner exemptions will renew automatically for taxpayers as long as the property has not been sold.  A title search, such as a Trustee's Deed or Quit Claim Deed, will also stop the Homeowner Exemption from being renewed automatically.
• Veteran and Disabled Persons exemptions should be available by May 1, 2012.
• The Long Time Occupant exemption application should be available by June 1, 2012.

Contact the Palatine Township Assessor's Office at 847-358-6164 for more information.

Assessor Terry Kelly

Key Dates To Remember 

• January - Senior Exemption and Senior Freeze mailed by Cook County. Tentative completed forms due end of February.
• March/April - First Property Tax Installment bill is mailed from the Cook County Treasurer's office. Bill is due usually 30 days after mailing date.
• Late Fall - Second Half Property Tax Installment due.

The Following Property Tax Exemptions are Available to Residential Property Owners

Check to see if you qualify for the exemptions listed below.  You may contact the Palatine Township Assessor's Office, 847-358-6164 if you need further information or assistance.  All forms are available online at www.cookcountyassessor.com .

The Homeowner Exemption is now automatically renewed for property owners who received it in the past.  If you are not receiving your Homeowner Exemption, contact our office to fill out the proper application.  You must mail the completed form back to the County Assessor or return to our office in order to receive your Homeowner Exemption.  The Homeowner Exemption will reduce your EAV by $6,000 if you have resided at your property for the principal place of residence as of January 1 of the year in question.  The Homeowner Exemption may also qualify you to receive the "Expanded Homeowner Exemption" (otherwise known as the 7% Cap) which can further reduce your EAV.  The savings you receive in real dollars will be reflected on your second installment tax bill on the Homeowner Exemption line.  Please scroll down to the bottom of the page to see an example of How To Determine Your Homeowners Exemption.

If you are 65 or older, you may apply for the Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption and reduce your EAV by $4,000 once approved.

If you qualify for the Senior Citizen Exemption and have a total household income of $55,000 or less in the year prior to the property tax year in question, you may qualify for the Senior Freeze Exemption.  The Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Exemption allows qualified Senior Citizens to apply for a freeze of the equalized assessed value (EAV) of their property.  This freezes the Equalized Assessed Value at the level prior to the taxable year for which the applicant first applies and qualifies or the current year whichever is lower.  For example, a senior citizen who applies and qualifies for this exemption in the taxable year 2010 will have the EAV of the property frozen at the 2010 EAV or 2009 EAV whichever is lower.

Those receiving this exemption should be aware that this does not automatically freeze the amount of their tax bill.  Only the EAV remains at the fixed amount.  The amount of dollars that the taxing district asks for (levy) and the tax rate will continue to effect calculation of the bill.

Both Senior Exemptions must be renewed annually.

The Expanded Homeowner Exemption (aka the 7% cap) limits your equalized assessed value from increasing more than 7% from year to year.  The savings from this exemption is reflected on the Homeowner Exemption line of you second installment tax bill.  Most property owners who are eligible for the Homeowner Exemption will also receive the Expanded Homeowner Exemption.

The Long-Time Occupant Exemption is an extension of the expanded homeowner exemption.  You must meet all of the requirements for the homeowner exemption plus the following requirements in order to be eligible.

• You must have lived in the house for 10 years dating from January 1st.
• You must have a total gross household income of no more than $100,000 in the year prior to the property tax year in question.

The Returning Veterans Homestead Exemption provides a one-time $5,000 reduction in a property's equalized assessed value (EAV) to qualifying veterans who return from active duty in an armed conflict involving the armed forces of the United States.  To receive this exemption, the veteran must file an application upon their return home.

The Disabled Veterans' Homeowner Exemption provides an annual reduction in the equalized assessed value (EAV) on the primary residence occupied by a disabled veteran on January 1 of the assessment year.  The amount of the exemption each year depends on the percentage of the disabled veteran's service-connected disability as certified by the U.S. Department of Veterans' Affairs.  A disabled veteran with at least a 75% service-connected disability will receive an annual $5,000 reduction in EAV.  A veteran with a 50% to 74% service-connected disability will receive an annual $2,500 reduction in EAV.  A disabled veteran must apply for this exemption each year.

The Disabled Person's Homestead Exemption provides a $2,000 reduction in a property's equalized assessed value (EAV) to a qualifying property owned by a disabled person.  A disabled person must file an annual application by the county's due date to continue to receive this exemption.

The Home Improvement Exemption encourages the expansion or renovation of homes by delaying taxation on up to $75,000 worth of improvements for at least four years.  You do not have to apply for a Home Improvement Exemption.  It will be given automatically.  You will be eligible for the exemption after you apply for a building permit to improve your home.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions

Helpful Links

www.cookcountyassessor.com    This site provides information about the Cook County Assessor's office, which is responsible for assessing all property in Cook County.  You can use this site to look up the assessment and characteristics of your property as well as the other 1.8 million parcels of property in the county.  That information can be used as evidence in your assessment appeal at the County Assessor's Office, Board of Review and Property Tax Appeal Board.  The county Assessor's site also contains information about property exemptions.

www.cookcountyboardofreview.com    This site will tell you how to file an assessment appeal at the Board of Review. 

www.cookcountytreasurer.com    The Treasurer's web site allows you to check the status of your property tax bill payments as well as directing you where and how to pay your tax bill.  Information is also available on refunds, services for senior exemptions and tax dates.

www.ccrd.info    The Cook County Recorder of Deeds site can be used to look up information about property transactions, deeds and mortgages.

www.state.il.us/agency/ptab    The state of Illinois Property Tax Appeal Board (PTAB) site will provide information on how to file an assessment appeal at PTAB. ***ALERT*** Be advised that you may only file an appeal at PTAB if you have previously filed an appeal at the Cook County Board of Review for the tax year in question.

www.cookctyclerk.com    Find information on redemption of delinquent property taxes that have been sold.  Learn how to Clerk's office calculates tax rates based on tax levies.  This site will also give you information on how to get legal descriptions of parcels and copies of tax maps.

How To Determine Your Homeowners Exemption

Assuming you have owned your home since 2004 or earlier, the calculation begins by determining the home's 2010 "Adjusted" Equalized Assessed Value (the same formula is used for future years).  This involves a long series of math formulas.  It begins with using the 2003 Assessed Value of the property as a base year.  The final result is then compared to the actual 2010 Equalized Assessed Value.

For this example, we will assume the house has a 2003 assessed value of $25,000.

To protect owners from large increases in assessed value a 7% per year rule was put into effect.

Now that the 2010 Adjusted EAV is known we compare it to the actual 2010 EAV.  For this example we will say that the 2010 assessed value was $30,000. 

The Homeowners Exemption is the difference between the 2010 Adjusted EAV and the 2010 EAV multiplied by the tax rate. There is a maximum allowed of $20,000 and a minimum allowed of $6,000. For this example:

If the tax rate for this home is 6% then the Homeowners Exemption will be:

If your home was bought after 2004, the same formula applies, just use the Assessed Value of the house from the year before you purchased it and follow the same formula. 

Suburban Tax Officials Support Automatic Renewal of Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemptions

State law should be changed so that Cook County residents, who meet the age qualifications for the
Senior Citizen property tax exemption, do not have to reapply for the exemption each year.  This policy change, advocated by the Cook County Township Assessors' Association, would reinstate a policy of automatically renewing the senior exemption, which was in effect between 2008 and 2010.  A new state law now requires that all senior homeowners complete an application to renew their exemption each and every year.

The Senior Citizen Exemption provides a discount on property taxes for residential properties that are owned and occupied by a person who is sixty-five years or older.  Unlike other senior tax exemptions, the Senior Citizen Exemption is available to all seniors, regardless of income.

The Cook County Township Assessors' Association supports a policy of automatic renewal of the Senior Citizen Exemption for the following reasons:

• People get older, not younger.  Once seniors prove that they have reached age sixty-five, they will remain eligible for the exemption for as long as they live in their homes.
• Inevitably, some of the 300,000 senior homeowners in Cook County will not complete the renewal applications, and thus will not receive a tax break for which they are eligible.
• Those who realize they are missing the Senior Citizen exemption will have to apply for refunds, and those refunds will be paid for by cash-strapped local governments.
• Processing as many as 300,000 senior renewal applications adds to the workload of county and township governments at a time when governments are trying to be more efficient in their use of personnel and resources.

Automatic renewal of Senior Citizen exemptions does carry a risk (albeit small) that some will receive exemptions for which they are not eligible; this is the reason the legislature acted to eliminate automatic renewals last year.  But policies have been implemented to limit such mistakes.  For example, the Senior Citizen exemption is not automatically renewed after a property is sold.  This means that a prior owner's senior exemption will not be passed on to a new buyer.

For the above reasons, Palatine Township Assessor Terry Kelly, along with the Cook County Township Assessors' Association, urges the State Legislature to reinstate the automatic renewal of the Senior Citizen Exemption.

Click here for Frequently Asked Questions