Via the Cook County Assessor's Office

March 6, 2009 - Cook County Assessor James M. Houlihan announced today that taxpayer exemption applications have been mailed to 235,000 homeowners. Applications were mailed to homeowners whose properties sold in 2008 and to homeowners whose properties did not have an exemption for the previous two years.

"This exemption application guides homeowners through the application process quickly and easily, saving them time and money," Houlihan said.  "I strongly encourage all homeowners who receive the application to apply and take advantage of these valuable, money-saving exemptions."

• The Homeowner Exemption - This exemption is available to all Cook County homeowners whose properties were occupied by the homeowner or the previous homeowner and used as a primary residence as of January 1, 2008.  This exemption can save qualified homeowners hundreds of dollars.

• The Senior Citizen Exemption - This exemption is available to all Cook County homeowners who were born prior to, or in, the year 1943 and use their home as their primary residence. This exemption entitles a senior to a reduction in the equalized assessed value of his or her property, usually resulting in hundreds of dollars in tax savings.  Taxpayers receiving the Senior Exemption will also automatically receive the Homeowner Exemption.

• The Senior Freeze Exemption is available to all Cook County homeowners who were born prior to, or in, the year 1943 and have total household incomes of $55,000 a year or less. Requirements also state that eligible seniors must have used their home as their primary residence and resided there January 1st of 2007 and 2008. This valuable exemption protects limited-income senior citizen homeowners from increases in the equalized assessed values of their properties.

Homeowners who received the Homeowner or Senior Citizen Exemptions last year and did not sell their homes in 2008 do not need to reapply for the exemptions this year.  The Senior Freeze Exemption must be applied for
annually.

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

The exemption application deadline is April 1, 2009.