Illinois Bill to extend time for homeowners to pay delinquent property taxes

Illinois State Representative of the 38th Legislative District, Debbie Meyers-Martin (pictured), co-sponsored SB3356, which would allow an extended deadline for Cook County property owners to pay their delinquent property taxes. Photo courtesy of Debbie Meyers-Martin
Illinois State Representative of the 38th Legislative District, Debbie Meyers-Martin (pictured), co-sponsored SB3356, which would allow an extended deadline for Cook County property owners to pay their delinquent property taxes. Photo courtesy of Debbie Meyers-Martin

Illinois Bill to extend time for homeowners to pay delinquent property taxes

According to Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas, there are more than 58,000 property owners who owe more than $180 million in delinquent taxes. Those taxes would have been put up for auction on Friday, May 8, but SB3356 was introduced to provide them with some relief.

SB3356 increases the amount of time property owners have to pay before their taxes go to auction from nine to 13 months. Illinois State Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin, who represents most of the Southland, is the sponsor of the bill on the House side. She said the legislature felt, in compliance with the treasurer’s thoughts, the time should be extended.

“The General Assembly actually helped reduce the amount of time from 12 months to nine months. This bill would extend it to 13 months,” she said. “The feeling being that if property owners had more time, a lot of tax sales wouldn’t occur because people would be able to redeem those back taxes.”

Meyers-Martin said the decrease in time happened before she was in office, so she is not really sure why it happened. “It may have been the political climate at the time. I just know that in 2014, it was reduced to nine months, and this would bring it to 13 months,” she said.

Meyers-Martin said property taxes are a big issue, especially in the South Suburbs.

“I was looking at some numbers, in my district alone, in Harvey, there were over 5,000 properties that were delinquent in taxes; in Markham, there were over 1,000; in Hazel Crest, there were over 500, in Park Forest, there were 413. And so, there are many elements and steps that we all need to take in order to address some of those issues, and this would be one of them,” Meyers-Martin said. Giving homeowners who find themselves in delinquency additional time to come up with the money is not the complete answer, she said, but it is part of the solution.

Meyers-Martin said being a part of the solution is why she decided to sponsor the bill on the House side. And, she said the bill has gone to revenue because there is an indication that a fiscal note may have been filed.

“Right now, because we haven’t been in Springfield, the House anyway since the first week of March, everything is sort of at a standstill. But if it were to pass both the Senate and the House, it would be effective immediately,” she said.

Meyers-Martin said this bill was introduced before the Coronavirus outbreak and the Cook County Treasurer’s Office closing as a safety precaution and tax sales being postponed indefinitely.

“Once the General Assembly gets back in session and can begin to process the bills, this would be additional assistance. Along with the many other programs that are being proposed now, both federally and statewide,” she added.

Meyers-Martin said sustaining homeownership in the South Suburbs is a priority for her.

“It is very important to me, as a legislator and a citizen of the South Suburbs that I continue to address the many challenges in the Southland,” she said. “Homeownership and the fact that our region never fully recovered from the housing crisis of 2018, it is just a very important priority with me.”

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