by Diana Pando

The City of Chicago Property Tax Rebate Program available to homeowners across the city was designed to provide low-and middle-income families and seniors with tax relief from the tax increase needed to fund pensions of policemen and firefighters. The program began operating on October 1^st and will be extended to December 21^st(2016).

Applications are accepted at 26 neighborhood processing locations and at City Hall. The Resurrection Project is one of those locations and is currently offering the service at its Pilsen and Back of the Yards offices, with bilingual staff available to assist Spanish speakers (no appointment is necessary).

According to Lizette Carretero, TRP’s Home Preservation Specialist, few Latino homeowners take advantage of this program. So far, the organization has assisted 1,160 families with an average rebate of $75 per application, obtaining over $87,000 for the families that were served, but TRP hopes that more Latino homeowners will apply for the rebate before the December 21^st  extended deadline.

“The legal status of homeowners does not affect their right to request this rebate,” she explains. “They can be citizens, legal residents or undocumented, and as long as they fulfill the requirements listed below they are eligible to apply.”

In order to qualify, applicants must:

• Be Chicago Homeowners
• Have received the Cook County Homeowners’ Exemption in the most recent property tax year
• Have a household adjusted gross income of $75,000 or less in 2015
• Have received their most recent property tax bill (July 2016) where the City of Chicago portion of property taxes increased from the previous year (July 2015)
• Be up-to-date with the payments of current property taxes
• Not owe real estate taxes on other Chicago properties
• Not have City debt (e.g. parking tickets, past due water bills). In cases where City debt is owed, the rebate will be applied to the debt

Applications for the City of Chicago Property Tax Rebate Program are accepted in person through December 21^st (deadline) Monday through Friday 11AM to 6PM and Saturdays 10AM to 5PM at the following Resurrection Project locations:

• 1818 S. Paulina St., Chicago, IL 60608 – Pilsen
• 4600 S. Wood St., Chicago, IL 60609 – Back of the Yards

Standard rebates can range between $25 and $200 and, if eligible, rebate checks will be received six to eight weeks after processing. The last day to fill out an application has been extended to December 21^st, 2016.