Bill Text: IL HB1109 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Amends the Property Tax Code. Provides that the statute of limitations for the execution of a certificate of error does not apply to a certificate of error correcting an assessment to $1 when the property is used as a common area by a subdivision, association, or planned development. Makes additional technical changes.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-04-15 - Alternate Chief Sponsor Changed to Sen. Don Harmon [HB1109 Detail]

Download: Illinois-2023-HB1109-Engrossed.html

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AN ACT concerning revenue.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
represented in the General Assembly:
Section 5. The Property Tax Code is amended by changing
Section 14-15 as follows:
(35 ILCS 200/14-15)
Sec. 14-15. Certificate of error; counties of 3,000,000 or
more.
(a) In counties with 3,000,000 or more inhabitants, if,
after the assessment is certified pursuant to Section 16-150,
but subject to the limitations of subsection (c) of this
Section, the county assessor discovers an error or mistake in
the assessment after the assessment is certified pursuant to
Section 16-150, the assessor shall execute a certificate
setting forth the nature and cause of the error, unless any
time limitation applying to that certificate of error has
expired. The certificate when endorsed by the county assessor,
or when endorsed by the county assessor and board of appeals
(until the first Monday in December 1998 and the board of
review beginning the first Monday in December 1998 and
thereafter) where the certificate is executed for any
assessment which was the subject of a complaint filed in the
board of appeals (until the first Monday in December 1998 and

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the board of review beginning the first Monday in December
1998 and thereafter) for the tax year for which the
certificate is issued, may, either be certified according to
the procedure authorized by this Section or be presented and
received in evidence in any court of competent jurisdiction,
provided that the certificate is endorsed by the county
assessor or, if the certificate is executed for an assessment
that was the subject of a complaint filed in the board of
review for the tax year for which the certificate is issued,
endorsed by the county assessor and the board of review.
Certification is authorized, at the discretion of the county
assessor, for: (1) certificates of error allowing homestead
exemptions under Article 15; (2) certificates of error on
residential property of 6 units or less; (3) certificates of
error allowing exemption of the property pursuant to Section
14-25; and (4) other certificates of error reducing assessed
value by less than $100,000. Any certificate of error not
certified shall be presented to the court. The county assessor
shall develop reasonable procedures for the filing and
processing of certificates of error. Prior to the
certification or presentation to the court, the county
assessor or his or her designee shall execute and include in
the certificate of error a statement attesting that all
procedural requirements pertaining to the issuance of the
certificate of error have been met and that in fact an error
exists. When so introduced in evidence such certificate shall

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become a part of the court records, and shall not be removed
from the files except upon the order of the court.
Certificates of error that will be presented to the court
shall be filed as an objection in the application for judgment
and order of sale for the year in relation to which the
certificate is made or as an amendment to the objection under
subsection (b). Certificates of error that are to be certified
according to the procedure authorized by this Section need not
be presented to the court as an objection or an amendment under
subsection (b). The State's Attorney of the county in which
the property is situated shall mail a copy of any final
judgment entered by the court regarding any certificate of
error to the taxpayer of record for the year in question.
Any unpaid taxes after the entry of the final judgment by
the court or certification on certificates issued under this
Section may be included in a special tax sale, provided that an
advertisement is published and a notice is mailed to the
person in whose name the taxes were last assessed, in a form
and manner substantially similar to the advertisement and
notice required under Sections 21-110 and 21-135. The
advertisement and sale shall be subject to all provisions of
law regulating the annual advertisement and sale of delinquent
property, to the extent that those provisions may be made
applicable.
A certificate of error certified under this Section shall
be given effect by the county treasurer, who shall mark the tax

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books and, upon receipt of one of the following certificates
from the county assessor or the county assessor and the board
of review where the board of review is required to endorse the
certificate of error, shall issue refunds to the taxpayer
accordingly:
"CERTIFICATION
I, .................., county assessor, hereby certify
that the Certificates of Error set out on the attached
list have been duly issued to correct an error or mistake
in the assessment."
"CERTIFICATION
I, .................., county assessor, and we,
........................................................,
members of the board of review, hereby certify that the
Certificates of Error set out on the attached list have
been duly issued to correct an error or mistake in the
assessment and that any certificates of error required to
be endorsed by the board of review have been so endorsed."
The county treasurer has the power to mark the tax books to
reflect the issuance of certificates of error certified
according to the procedure authorized in this Section for
certificates of error issued under Section 14-25 or
certificates of error issued to and including 3 years after

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the date on which the annual judgment and order of sale for
that tax year was first entered. The county treasurer has the
power to issue refunds to the taxpayer as set forth above until
all refunds authorized by this Section have been completed.
To the extent that the certificate of error obviates the
liability for nonpayment of taxes, certification of a
certificate of error according to the procedure authorized in
this Section shall operate to vacate any judgment or
forfeiture as to that year's taxes, and the warrant books and
judgment books shall be marked to reflect that the judgment or
forfeiture has been vacated.
(b) Nothing in subsection (a) of this Section shall be
construed to prohibit the execution, endorsement, issuance,
and adjudication of a certificate of error if (i) the annual
judgment and order of sale for the tax year in question is
reopened for further proceedings upon consent of the county
collector and county assessor, represented by the State's
Attorney, and (ii) a new final judgment is subsequently
entered pursuant to the certificate. This subsection (b) shall
be construed as declarative of existing law and not as a new
enactment.
(c) No certificate of error, other than a certificate to
establish an exemption under Section 14-25, shall be executed
for any tax year more than 3 years after the date on which the
annual judgment and order of sale for that tax year was first
entered, except that during calendar years 1999 and 2000 a

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certificate of error may be executed for any tax year,
provided that the error or mistake in the assessment was
discovered no more than 3 years after the date on which the
annual judgment and order of sale for that tax year was first
entered.
(d) The time limitation of subsection (c) shall not apply
to a certificate of error correcting an assessment to $1,
under Section 10-35, on a parcel that a subdivision or planned
development has acquired by adverse possession, if, during the
tax year for which the certificate is executed, the
subdivision, association, or planned development used the
parcel as common area, as defined in Section 10-35, and if
application for the certificate of error is made prior to
December 1, 1997.
(e) The changes made by this amendatory Act of the 91st
General Assembly apply to certificates of error issued before,
on, and after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the
91st General Assembly.
(f) The changes made by this amendatory Act of the 103rd
General Assembly apply to certificates of error issued on or
after the effective date of this amendatory Act of the 103rd
General Assembly for taxable years 2003 or thereafter.
(Source: P.A. 95-644, eff. 10-12-07.)