Senior Exemption Deadlines Approaching

Senior citizens who are newly eligible for a senior citizen property tax exemption or who are eligible for the income-based Senior Freeze Exemption, have until April 10th to apply, under a recently extended deadline.

Under a new law passed last year, senior citizens who have already qualified for the standard senior citizen exemption in past years do not have to reapply. The exemption is now automatically renewed.

Applicants for the Senior Freeze Exemption however, are required to apply each year. Cook County homeowners age 65 or older who have household incomes of $65,000 or less may qualify. This senior freeze exemption provides additional property tax deductions to offset increases in assessed property values.

Benefits of the Senior Citizen Exemption

If you are a senior citizen who recently purchased a home or a newly eligible senior who turned 65 in the last year, the exemption can shave hundreds of dollars off your tax bill by reducing your equalized assessed value by $8,000, in addition to the standard homeowner’s exemption.

Senior Exemption Eligibility Requirements 

• Homeowners must be 65 years or older.
• The home must be your principal residence as of Jan. 1 of the tax year in question.
• There are no income requirements for the senior homeowner exemption

Appeal Your Property Tax Assessment to Ensure Maximum Savings

Regardless of your age, the best way to reduce your property tax bill, after you have applied for all of the exemptions for which you are eligible, is to appeal the assessed value of your home. An appeal is the only way to ensure that you are not paying more than you should be.

At Kensington, we have decades of experience and a proprietary algorithm for analyzing the data to make the strongest case for reducing your assessment.

If you think you may be paying too much in property taxes, or you would like more information about your exemption status, please give us a call or click on the link below. We can provide a free, no-obligation analysis of your property tax situation. We have a long track record of helping thousands of Cook County property owners save tens of thousands of dollars in property taxes. If you hire us to assist with an appeal, you pay nothing unless you win.

Get Your Free Property Tax Reduction Estimate