Cook County Assessor’s Office Releases Exemption Booklets

CHICAGO -- Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi announced today that taxpayer exemption booklets were  mailed today to 110,000 homeowners – those whose properties sold in 2017 and those who did not receive an exemption on their properties for the previous two years.

“This exemption booklet guides homeowners through the application process saving them a trip to our office and time on the phone,” Assessor Kaegi said. “The mailing is intended to make taxpayers aware of the exemptions available through this office."

The exemption application deadline is March 6, 2019.            

The three exemptions that Cook County homeowners may apply for using the exemption booklet include:

• Homeowner Exemption – This exemption is available to all homeowners whose properties were occupied by the homeowner or the previous homeowner and used as a primary residence as of January 1, 2018. 

• Senior Citizen Exemption – This exemption is available to all Cook County homeowners who were born prior to, or in, the year 1953 and use their home as their primary residence. This exemption entitles a senior to a reduction in the value of his or her property. Taxpayers receiving the Senior Exemption will automatically receive the Homeowner Exemption.
• Senior Freeze Exemption is available to all homeowners who were born prior to, or in, the year 1953 and have total household incomes of $65,000 a year or less for the income tax year 2017. Requirements also state that eligible seniors must have used their home as their primary residence and resided there January 1^st of 2017 and 2018. This valuable exemption protects limited-income senior citizen homeowners from increases in the value of their property.

The Senior Citizen and Senior Freeze Exemptions must be applied for annually.  Homeowners who received the Homeowner Exemption last year and did not sell their homes in 2017 do not need to reapply and will continue to receive the exemption each year.

Taxpayers who wish to apply for any of the exemptions for the first time may download the taxpayer exemption application from the Assessor’s website at cookcountyassessor.com or contact the Assessor’s Office at 312-443-7550 to have an application mailed to them.