Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan Announces that Senior Freeze Exemption Application Deadline is Extended 2008 March 20

For Immediate Release
Department of Communications
Lucio Guerrero, 312-603-7305
Maura Kownacki, 312-603-3065

Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan Announces that Senior Freeze Exemption Application Deadline is Extended
Chicago – March 20, 2008– Cook County Assessor Jim Houlihan announced that the Senior Freeze Exemption application deadline has been extended until April 23rd.
“Our goal is to ensure that every eligible senior has an opportunity to apply for this valuable exemption,” Houlihan said.
The Senior Freeze Exemption is available to all Cook County homeowners who were born prior to or in the year 1942 and who have total household incomes of $50,000 a year or less. Requirements also state that eligible seniors must have used their homes as their primary residences and have resided there January 1st of 2006 and 2007. This valuable exemption protects limited-income senior citizen homeowners from increases in the equalized assessed values of their properties. The Senior Freeze Exemption must be applied for annually.
Homeowners who received the Senior Citizen Exemption on their tax bills last year, and did not sell their homes in 2007, do not need to reapply for the Senior Citizen Exemption this year.
Taxpayers who received the Senior Exemption last year will have the exemption automatically applied to the second installment tax bills received this fall and they do not need to take any further action.
The Senior Citizen Exemption is available to all Cook County homeowners, who were born prior to or in the year 1942 and who use their homes as their primary residences. This exemption entitles a senior to a reduction in the equalized assessed value of his or her property resulting in hundreds of dollars in tax savings. Taxpayers receiving the Senior Exemption will also automatically receive the Homeowner Exemption.
In addition to those exemptions referenced above, there are three new exemptions available this year. These include the Disabled Persons’ Exemption, Disabled Veterans’ Exemption and the Returning Veterans’ Exemption.
Taxpayers who wish to apply for any of the exemptions for the first time this year may download applications from the Assessor’s website at www.cookcountyassessor.com or contact the Assessor’s Office at 312-443-7550 to have an application mailed to them.
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