Cook County Assessor Fritz Kaegi announced swift implementation of HB 833, a bill that requires the automatic renewal of the Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption. Unanimously passing through both the Illinois House and Senate last week, HB 833 will amend the Property Tax Code so that a person who has been granted a Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption will not need to reapply for the exemption every year, as is the case now. In the House, the bill’s chief sponsor was Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Fred Crespo while Sen. Laura Ellman and Sen. Bill Cunningham were its chief co-sponsors in the Senate. To allow for the automatic renewal of the Senior Homestead Exemption and prevent fraud in its application, the Illinois Dept. of Public Health would be required to send the Cook County Assessor’s Office (CCAO) death record information quarterly while the CCAO would access the Social Security Administration’s Master Death List and exchange information with the Recorder of Deeds Office on deed transactions of properties with a Senior Homestead Exemption. The CCAO would be required to conduct an audit on every Senior Citizen Homestead Exemption at least once every three years.