Assessor’s Office mails Senior and Senior Freeze Exemption applications

Assessor’s Office mails Senior and Senior Freeze Exemption applications

CHICAGO – The office of Cook

County Assessor Joseph Berrios has

mailed Senior and Senior Freeze

Exemption renewal applications for

Tax Year 2016. Savings from these

exemptions will appear as deductions on

the 2017 Second Installment Property

Tax Bills mailed this summer.

Nearly 300,000 applications were

mailed to seniors who received the

exemptions last year. The application

deadline is Wednesday, February 8th and

it is imperative that seniors return their

application(s) in order to receive their

exemption savings on their tax bills.

The Senior Exemption application

is part of a booklet sent to eligible seniors.

The booklet also contains the separate,

income-based Senior Freeze Exemption

application.

“Seniors must remember that,

under Illinois law, they must reapply

annually for both the Senior and Senior

Freeze Exemptions in order to continue

to receive the deductions on their Second

Installment Property Tax Bills,” Berrios

said.

To qualify for the Senior Citizen

Exemption for Tax Year 2016, the

property owner must have:

▪ been born prior to or in the year

1951

▪ owned the property during 2016

or have a lease or contract for 2016 which

makes them responsible for the real

estate taxes

▪ used the property as a principal

place of residence in 2016

To qualify for the Senior Freeze

Exemption for Tax Year 2016, taxpayers

must have:

been born prior to or in the year

1951

▪ a total household income of

$55,000 or less for [income] Tax Year

2015

▪ owned the property or had a legal,

equitable or leasehold interest in the

property on January 1, 2015 and January

1, 2016

▪ used the property as a principal

place of residence as of January 1, 2015

and January 1, 2016

▪ been liable for the payment of

2015 and 2016 property taxes

“If you don't qualify for the Senior

Freeze Exemption because you exceed

the income level, this does not mean

you will not be eligible for the Senior

Exemption,” Berrios explained. “The

Senior Exemption has no income

restrictions and I'm concerned that

seniors might discard the entire booklet

and not receive the Senior Exemption

savings to which they are entitled.”

Seniors receiving the Senior

Citizen Exemption automatically

receive the Homeowner Exemption.

Seniors receiving the Senior Freeze

Exemption automatically receive

both the Homeowner and Senior

Citizen Exemptions.

Eligible seniors who have

never applied for the Senior and/

or Senior Freeze Exemptions in the

past may visit the Assessor's web

site at www.cook county assessor.

com and download an application

or contact the Assessor's Office at

312-443-7550 and request a form

be mailed to them. Applications

for the Homeowner Exemption are

also available online. Applications

for additional exemptions

administered by the Assessor's

Office will be available within the

next few weeks.

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