Property Tax Exemptions: How Homeowners and Seniors Can Save on Taxes
By Maria Pappas
Property taxes can be a financial burden, but exemptions can help reduce those costs by offering significant savings to property owners. There are three exemptions that do the most good for the most people.
They are the Homeowner Exemption, the Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption and the Senior Freeze Exemption. The Cook County Treasurer’s Office is dedicated to helping residents apply for these exemptions to lower their property tax bills.
First, check the exemptions you’re receiving by visiting cookcountytreasurer.com and clicking on the purple box labeled Your Property Tax Overview. Search using your address or 14-digit Property Index Number (PIN).
If you use your address, simply enter your house number and street name. Do not include north, south, east or west. A picture of your property – home, business or land should appear, so you know you’ve found the right place. Scroll down and you should also see a grid with your exemptions. If the word “No” appears, as seen in this example grid, you could be leaving significant money on the table.
To turn some of those “Nos” into yeses, let’s look at our major exemptions.
Homeowner Exemption: This is the granddaddy of exemptions, with most property owners qualifying. This lowers property taxes for homeowners who occupy their home as their primary residence for at least a year. First-time applicants must have lived in the property as of January 1 of the tax year in question. The exemption renews automatically each year unless the property is sold. Check your status online and apply for any missed Homeowner exemptions from the past four years.
Senior Citizen Exemption:
Homeowners applying for Senior Citizen Homestead Exemptions for the first time are eligible if they’re 65 or older and own and occupy their property as their principal place of residence. If a married couple jointly owns a home, they’re eligible when the older partner is 65. To receive this exemption, the applicant must have owned and occupied the property as of January 1 and must have been 65 years of age or older during the tax year in question. That means many homeowners who turned 65 in 2023 are now eligible for this tax break for the first time. They should apply now so the Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption savings can be reflected on their 2024 Second Installment bills due later this year.
Senior Freeze Exemption:
Applicants must meet age and income requirements to qualify for the Senior Freeze Exemption. Seniors aged 65 and older with an annual household income of $65,000 or less are eligible. You must have owned and occupied the home on January 1 of the tax year in question. This exemption “freezes” the equalized assessed valuation (EAV) of the property the year that the senior citizen qualifies for the benefit, insulating the senior from soaring property taxes that come with rising EAVs. Unlike other exemptions, you must re-apply for the Senior Freeze every year since income levels can change.
How to Apply for Exemptions and Refunds:
Apply for these exemptions online at cookcountytreasurer.com where you can search for yourself or anyone else. Verify that you’re receiving the exemptions you’re entitled to and apply for any you’ve missed. Remember, you can apply for any missed exemptions going back four years.
Don’t miss out on valuable tax breaks. Homeowners and seniors who qualify can save hundreds or even thousands of dollars annually. Visit the Cook County Treasurer’s website to start the application process today as it might lessen your financial burden.
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Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
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