Illinois Counties Seeking to Require Income and Expense For Appraisals

SB1379 was introduced this legislative session but ultimately pulled from the agenda and will be set for further discussions next legislative session. Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi is planning to overhaul the way the Illinois property tax system works, with SB1379 proposing is counties of 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, taxpayers of income-producing property shall submit income and expense data related to the property annually to the chief county assessment officer. In counties with fewer than 3,000,000 inhabitants, the county board may provide by resolution that taxpayers of income-producing property shall submit income and expense data annually to the chief county assessment officer. As Cook County and Fritz Kaegi look to reform the property tax system, Assessor Kaegi is hopeful this is the start of more transparency with Cook County appraisals and the rest of Illinois’ urban counties.

The definition of “income-producing property” means property that is not exclusively owner-occupied including hotels, motels, parking garages, senior care facilities, self-storage facilities, and others. The bill does not cover property with an assessed value of $100,000 or less in the most recent assessment year nor does it cover residential property containing 6 or fewer units.

There has been a lot of push back during this previous legislative session due to the nature of the highly sensitive financial information and how it would be protected. Assessor Kaegi has proposed that these records would not be subject to Illinois open records laws. This next legislative session will be important in shaping the future of Illinois’ property tax system.