Decrease-income older of us who personal houses in Illinois, the highest property tax state in the Midwest, for many years have obtained a essential tax break often known as the “senior freeze.”
Formally, it’s known as the low-income senior citizens assessment freeze, and it’s a significant type of tax reduction that stops a whole lot of 1000’s of older Illinoisans on mounted incomes from shedding their houses due to steep property taxes.
The exemption freezes houses’ assessed values the yr somebody qualifies for this system and have to be renewed yearly in Cook dinner County. To qualify, of us have to be 65 or older and have a yearly family revenue of not more than $65,000. The freeze solely works on a main residence; a second house is a no-go.
Oversight by county assessors who administer this system is crucial. As with all authorities program, there may be potential for abuse, as some dishonest of us will attempt to profit. We urge Cook dinner Nation Assessor Fritz Kaegi to press forward with reforms to forestall fraud and flag errors by candidates.
Solar-Occasions Watchdogs reporter Tim Novak reported over the weekend that candidates haven’t been required to offer documentation to show they meet the family revenue requirement to acquire the freeze. Verification of revenue hasn’t been carried out except somebody questions it.
Novak requested the Cook dinner County assessor’s workplace questions on senior freezes for 20 properties, which led to the present overview of 15 properties. But it surely shouldn’t take a reporter’s inquiries to get motion in opposition to individuals suspected of abusing the system.
Novak requested a couple of freeze for a Winnetka mansion owned by an 84-year-old widow whose property tax payments have been lowered by a whopping $467,000 over 12 years. This yr alone, her tax invoice was lowered by $67,758.
Whereas receiving the exemption, the home-owner, Jill Fitzgerald bought two condominium buildings for greater than $2.5 million. How does that sq. with the exemption’s $65,000 restrict on annual revenue? The assessor’s workplace ought to quickly discover out — Kaegi is now asking for proof Fitzgerald certified for the breaks.
In a Solar-Occasions letter to the editor, Kaegi underscored that solely a small variety of exemptions — amongst greater than 98,000 — have been flagged by the Solar-Occasions. Sure, abuse seems to be uncommon. However as soon as the cash is misplaced, how possible is it that the county will have the ability to claw it again? And each time a tax break is given, different taxpayers should carry a much bigger property tax load to make up the distinction.
‘Riddled’ with errors
Kaegi plans to start out auditing senior freeze purposes subsequent yr. He’ll confirm candidates’ revenue ranges with the Illinois Division of Income. And he’ll test on candidates’ ages.
But it surely’s puzzling, as a minimum, that these steps weren’t adopted years in the past by Kaegi (or his predecessors, together with Joe Berrios, who was voted out of workplace in 2018).
In 2021, the Sun-Times reported the senior freeze program was “riddled” with errors. It hasn’t helped that Cook dinner County has relied on an antiquated mainframe pc that quickly might be changed.
Novak’s investigationn discovered a 54-year-old — that’s proper, he’s 11 years too younger for a senior freeze — who has obtained the exemption. That property proprietor, Armando Saleh and his spouse, Maria Manzano, obtained their first senior freeze — get this — of their 20s beneath then-Cook dinner County Assessor James Houlihan.
Saleh is a Metropolis Corridor lobbyist who has obtained a senior freeze on two condominium buildings concurrently, although the exemption is meant to be utilized to a main residence solely.
Right here’s one other eyebrow-raiser: Some companies have obtained senior freezes, regardless that it’s clear solely people qualify.
To Kaegi’s credit score, his workplace has flagged practically 10,000 instances of house owners getting tax breaks beneath numerous packages for which they didn’t qualify. The senior freeze is only one piece of it. Audits of that program can’t come quickly sufficient.
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