Got exemption back, but law still wrong

Thanks to your article on 9/28/11 regarding the senior exemption. Upon review of our property tax records, my wife and I discovered that the Cook County Assessor’s Office stopped granting us our senior exemption in 2005.

We went out to the Rolling Meadows office this past Friday and were given our senior exemption while we were there. We also filed a certificate of error in order to obtain a refund for our senior exemption for 2007 through 2009. Unfortunately, the law only allows you to make a claim for the past three years.

We doubt very much that we are the only Cook County residents that had our senior exemption disappear from the records. We would like to see the Daily Herald publish another article regarding the senior exemption, senior freeze, etc., so that more residents will become aware of what can happen to their property tax records.

We also believe the new law passed in 2010 which requires seniors to file every year should be amended to only require seniors to go to the assessor’s office one initial time.

Tom and Jo Schatterman

Elk Grove Village