The IAR headquarters will be a hub of activity again during the second and final week of the Illinois General Assembly’s fall veto session Nov. 8-10 in Springfield.

During the first week of veto session, IAR hosted a coalition of business groups that fights anti-business legislation (BIFEC) and the RPAC Hall of Fame wall dedication. Following the same momentum, during week two IAR will host host a series of legislative events at the headquarters, which is conveniently located just steps from the State Capitol.

IAR is working to stop House Bill 506, an initiative of the Cook County Assessor that approves a tax lien PLUS significant financial penalties for property owners in the county who have received one or more erroneous homestead exemptions. While IAR shares the belief that property taxpayers should NOT be allowed to claim multiple homestead exemptions, we are OPPOSED to the way the language has been drafted in the bill for three key reasons:

  1. There is no “knowing and willful” intent provisions to establish that someone was claiming the exemption with intent to commit fraud; it can happen by mistake.
  2. There is no language that requires a property owner to notify the county assessment officer when the status or condition of the property changes.
  3. The bill allows the assessor to go back three to six years to find erroneous homestead exemptions, which could pose a significant financial burden on a taxpayer. Also, the tax lien and penalties (with interest charges) must be paid within 30 days after mailing of the lien. That’s not a lot of time for a property owner to come up with potentially thousands of dollars for something they may be unaware of in the first place.

Watch this video to learn more about the issue and link here to participate in the Call for Action on the issue to help stop this bill.