Alderman Villegas Sponsors Historic Amendment to City's Affordable Housing Ordinance to Support Veterans.

Today, the City of Chicago Committee on Housing and Real Estate passed a historic amendment, sponsored by Alderman Gilbert Villegas. This amendment will establish veterans’ preference for affordable housing units. This amendment requires certain developers in Chicago to give preference to veterans for at least 10% of the minimum number of affordable units required to be provided under the City’s Affordable Requirements Ordinance, whether provided on-site or off-site. The matter is scheduled to go to City Council for a full vote at the City Council meeting on Wednesday, April 17 at 10:00AM.

Alderman Villegas Hosts Press Conference: Further Study Needed for Decarbonization Ordinance

On April 3rd, I was joined by Chicago residents, union workers, Alderman David Moore, and the Clean Energy Choice Coalition to demand further study on decarbonization in our city, before our city passes an ordinance to ban natural gas in new buildings.

We support decarbonization, but we want to take our time with this transition & make sure that the most impacted people - specifically, Black and Brown communities and low-income families - are included in these conversations. All families must have affordable energy options.

For more information, read the Resolution I introduced in City Council earlier this year: Resolution for Hearings to analyze costs of converting buildings from natural gas to electric for heating and cooking systems in Chicago

➡️ Apply Now for Property Tax Savings!

Tax exemption applications for the 2023 tax year are now available online. Exemptions are savings that contribute to lowering a homeowner’s property tax bill. The most common is the Homeowner Exemption, saving a property owner an average of $950 dollars each year. As a reminder, exemptions are reflected on the second installment property tax bill. See the full list of exemptions here. 

Here are 3 key things that homeowners should be aware of when applying for exemptions.

How to check your exemptions
If homeowners are unsure of their existing exemptions, they can check by reviewing their “Property Details” and review the Exemption History & Status section.

Applications are available in multiple languages
The Assessor’s Office is proud to announce that exemption forms are available in English,  Spanish, Polish, and simplified Chinese languages. Applications can be downloaded at www.cookcountyassessor.com/exemptions. Paper applications are also available at our branch offices. Click here to see a list of our branch offices and to schedule an appointment.  

Join a virtual workshop 
Homeowners can join virtual exemptions workshops on Facebook and YouTube at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, in English and on Thursday, March 14, in Spanish. For a list of upcoming in-person and virtual outreach events, visit www.cookcountyassessor.com/event-list.