Proposed Law Would Allow Automatic Cook County Senior Citizen Property Tax Exemption

As you may or may not know, last year the Illinois legislature passed a law which required senior homeowners in Cook County to start re-applying for the senior citizen property tax exemption for their homes on an annual basis, effective in the fall of 2011.  Many people, particularly seniors, were not happy about this.  After all, if a senior citizen fails to apply for any reason, his or her property tax liability could increase substantially.

The legislature has been working on a fix, however, and while it may or may not make it through the House, the Senate recently approved legislation allowing senior exemptions for Cook County senior homeowners to renew automatically, as they did prior to last year’s law.  The bill has been passed on the House, and as of yet there is no word on whether or not the House will approve it.

In the meantime, seniors should exercise diligence and apply for the senior exemption or risk losing it!