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Chicago, IL. Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin (District 13) was the primary sponsor of an ordinance which allows Cook County taxpayers to receive the benefits associated with Senate Bill 2112, signed into law by Governor Blagojevich on July 12, 2004. The County's ordinance was approved by a majority of the Cook County Board of Commissioners on July 13, 2004.

SB 2112 caps real estate property assessments at 7% per year, increases the homeowner exemption amount to $5,000 for Cook County homeowners and assists senior citizens by increasing their additional homeowner exemption to $3,000 from $2,500 in Cook County.

Cook County Assessor James Houlihan initiated the property tax relief legislation in Springfield to address the ever increasing property tax assessments. Cook County's participation in this bill is the first step in reforming the current property tax system.

Under the Illinois law, county boards have six months to enact the exemption that limits property tax assessments to 7% per year. Without wanting to further delay relief to property owners, Commissioner Suffredin introduced the ordinance enabling Cook County to take advantage of SB 2112 for approval at Tuesday's county board meeting. Cook County is the first county in Illinois to opt-in to the provisions of SB 2112.

Recognizing that SB 2112 is not a long-term solution to address rising property tax assessments, Commissioner Suffredin stated, "I urge all citizens receiving reassessment notices to actively participate in the reassessment process to assure a fair reassessment rate for their property."