Norris was invited to discuss the impact of new legislation titled the Alternative General Homestead Exemption (P.A. 93-715, ILCS 200/15-176), but commonly referred to as "the 7 percent solution" for complaints from homeowners about escalating taxes.
"Seven percent does not always equal seven percent," Norris said as he presented hypotheticals based on anticipated increases in assessed valuations and changes in the state equalization factor and tax rates for Cook County.
For instance, owners of a Chicago home with a market value of $200,000 that incurs a 50 percent increase in assessed valuation for the 2003 tax year might end up with a tax bill reasonably close to what it was in 2002, about $3,200.
But owners of a similar home that incurs a 140 percent increase in assessed valuation for 2003 could get a tax bill of more than $2,700 over 2002 - an 84 percent bump that would cause serious problems for a buyer and seller who relied on the traditional 5 or 10 percent proration formula.
What happened to the "seven percent solution"? Norris explained that the complicated formula laid out in the act creates a new assessment factor called the Base Homestead Value (BHV). It is calculated by subtracting the 2002 homeowners' exemption of $4,500 from that year's equalized assessed valuation.
Applying the 7 percent cap to the 2002 BHV, the property receives an Adjusted Homestead Value (AHV) for 2003. When the increased assessed valuation is multiplied by the projected equalization factor for 2003, the resulting Assessed Equalized Value (AEV) is considerably higher than the AHV.
Therefore, an exemption of up to $20,000 is subtracted from the AEV, but it is still substantially higher than in the previous tax year. Although the 2003 general tax rate in the City of Chicago is expected to have dropped from the 2002 rate, the overall property tax bill may be surprisingly greater.
Furthermore, Norris pointed out, the 7 percent limit on base homestead values may be compounded annually, so it could be more than 22 percent in three years. The exemption cap remains at $20,000 per tax year.
The impact will be felt this year by city homeowners, whose property was subject to the 2003 triennial reassessment. Suburban Cook County property is being reassessed this year for tax bills that will be received in 2005.
In answer to a question, Norris estimated that reassessment calculations based on the new formula could result in second installments of current city tax bills not being payable before Nov. 1, and possibly into December.
He also warned that the purchase of a residence at a price significantly higher than its current projected market value is likely to generate a new homestead value and resultant tax obligation far above what had been anticipated when the transaction was concluded.
Norris repeated his presentation Sept. 8 during a breakfast meeting of the IRELA in Rolling Meadows.
International court decisions to be reviewed
An International Law Update will be presented by the ISBA International and Immigration Law Section during a luncheon program from 12 noon to 2 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23, in the Chicago Regional Office.
Section council chair Mark E. Wojcik, director of global legal studies at The John Marshall Law School, is the program coordinator and speaker.
In Part I, Wojcik will discuss recent cases from the International Court of Justice, including Avena and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations: What Does Mexico's Victory Mean for the United States?
Also, Must the Wall Come Tumbling Down? Implications of the ICJ Ruling on Israel's Security Wall, and Comments from the Court's Advisory Jurisdiction.
Part II of the program will consist of selected recent international law cases from the U.S. Supreme Court, as follows:
* Hamdi v. Rumsfeld Captives have rights under international law.
* Rasul v. Bush The legal status of Guantanamo.
* Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain A new life for the Alien Tort Claims Act.
* Republic of Austria v. Altmann The "art" of litigation, using the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act to recover stolen art.
* F. Hoffman-La Roche Ltd. v. Empagran S.A. Does the Foreign Trade Antitrust Improvements Act of 1982 have extraterritorial effect, or does the statute need to take its vitamins?
* Olympic Airways v. Husain What is an "accident" under the Warsaw Convention?
* Grupo Dataflux v. Atlas Global Group, L.P. A lesson in how to defeat federal diversity jurisdiction for international partnerships.
* Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen Will NAFTA keep on truckin'?
The registration fee of $35 includes lunch. To register, call the CLE registrar at (800) 252-8908.
Criminal justice concerns include handling of aliens
The second presentation of the ISBA Law Ed Series seminar, "Truth or Consequences: A Practitioner's Guide to Criminal Dispositions and Collateral Consequences," will take place Friday, Oct. 22 in the Chicago Regional Office.
Sponsored by the General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Section, the program is coordinated by past chair Michele M. Jochner, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors and law clerk to Chief Justice Mary Ann G. McMorrow, and ISBA Assembly member Julie Ann Sebastian, a section council member and assistant Cook County state's attorney.
Members of the ISBA Criminal Justice Section, the International and Immigration Law Section and the Young Lawyers Division will participate. The schedule follows.
1 p.m. Welcome and introductions by General Practice Section Council chair Timothy E. Duggan of Stine, Greer & Duggan, Springfield.
1:15 p.m. Overview of Criminal Sentencing Dispositions by Matthew M. Maloney of Pierson, Maloney & Rayfield, Princeton, a member of the General Practice and Criminal Justice Section Councils.
1:45 p.m. Collateral Consequences of Criminal Dispositions on Permanent Resident Aliens, the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Patriot Act, with Patrick M. Kinnally of Kinnally, Krentz, Loran, Hodge & Herman, Aurora.
Kinnally is a member of the General Practice, Criminal Justice, and International and Immigration Law Section Councils, as well as the Committee on Supreme Court Rules and Special Committee on Mentoring.
2:15 p.m. Hearings Before the Secretary of State and Collateral Consequences of a DUI Disposition and Loss of Driving Privilege Based on Conviction for False Identification, with Marc C. Loro of Springfield.
Legal advisor on administrative hearings for the Illinois secretary of state, Loro is a member of the Administrative Law Section Council and past chair of the Committee on Government Lawyers.
3 p.m. Judicial Perspective on Sentencing and Blakely, with Judge Matthew F. Kinnally of U.S. District Court, Chicago.
4 p.m. Rights of Non-citizens when Arrested: Enforcing the Convention on Diplomatic Relations after Avena, with Mark E. Wojcik, associate professor and director of global legal studies at The John Marshall Law School, Chicago.
Wojcik chairs the International and Immigration Law Section Council and serves on the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Section Council.
4:30 p.m. Criminal Records Relief: Expungement, Sealing, Certificates of Rehabilitation and Executive Clemency, with assistant Cook County public defender Maryam Ahmad.
Panel to air substance of Open Meetings, FOI Acts
The delicate balance between the public's right to know and a government body's right to privacy in specific circumstances is the subject of an ISBA Law Ed Series seminar from 2 to 5 p.m. Monday, Oct. 4, in the Chicago Regional Office.
The program, "Public Information and Privacy Rights: A Seminar for Government Attorneys on the Open Meetings Act and Freedom of Information Act," will be presented by the ISBA Committee on Government Lawyers and the CBA Government Service Committee.
Coordinator of the two-part program is ISBA committee member Rosalyn B. Kaplan of Chicago, chief of appeals and ancillary litigation for the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. The topics and speakers follow.
Open Meetings Act: Current Developments and Exemption Issues Michael J. Luke of Springfield, chief of the Public Access and Opinions Division of the Illinois Attorney General's Office, and William C. Kling of Ancel, Glink, Diamond, Bush, DiCianni & Rolek, Chicago.
Freedom of Information Act: Current Developments and Exemption Issues - Terry L. Mutchler of the Illinois Attorney General's Office, Springfield, and Meryl Daskal Paniak of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Chicago.
To register, at $25 per person, call the CLE registrar at (800) 252-8908.
Family law speakers to delve into 'Unconventional Topics'
"Unconventional Topics in Family Law" is the title of an ISBA Law Ed Series that will be presented Monday, Sept. 27, at the Radisson Hotel, Bloomington, and Monday, Oct. 4, at the Chicago Athletic Association, by the Family Law Section.
Discussion topics include adversarial issues involved in college expenses, orders of protection and estate planning for marriage dissolutions, and a panel of judges will field topical hypotheticals.
Program coordinators and moderators are section council members Gregory A. Scott of Scott & Scott, Springfield (in Bloomington), and Corri D. Fetman and Kelly C. Garland of Chicago Women at Law (in Chicago). The schedule follows.
9 a.m. Defending and Vacating Orders of Protection, with Enrico J. Mirabelli of Nadler, Pritikin & Mirabelli, Chicago, a member of the ISBA Board of Governors.
9:45 a.m. Estate Planning and Divorce: 'Til Death (or Divorce) Do Us Part, with Gregory Scott and R. Stephen Scott (Bloomington); Lauren J. Wolven of Horwood, Marcus & Berk, and Claire R. McKenzie of Schiller, DuCanto & Fleck (Chicago).
11 a.m. Legislative Update, with section council member Adrienne W. Albrecht of Sacks, Albrecht & Gubbins, Kankakee.
11:45 a.m. Luncheon period.
12:45 p.m. Creative Drafting to Protect Your Client and Avoid Post-Decree Hell, with Paul A. Osborn of Ward, Murray, Pace & Johnson, Sterling.
1:30 p.m. - Case Law Update, with Enrico Mirabelli.
2:30 p.m. College Expenses: How to Prove, Application and Defenses, with Peggy J. Ryan of Sorling, Northrup, Hanna, Cullen & Cochran, Springfield (Bloomington); 18th Circuit Judge Rodney W. Equi of Wheaton, a section council member (Chicago).
3:15 p.m. - Judicial Panel: Questions to Judges with Factual Hypotheticals on Hot Topics.
Bloomington panelists are Judges M. Carol Pope of the 8th Circuit, Petersburg; Jerelyn D. Maher of the 10th Circuit, Peoria; Ronald D. Spears of the 4th Circuit, Taylorville, and Scott D. Drazewski of the 11th Circuit, Bloomington.
Chicago panelists are Judges Rodney Equi, Brian R. McKillip and James J. Konetski of the 18th Circuit, Wheaton, and Cook County Judge Melvin J. Cole.
4:15 p.m. - Questions and Answers.
Sexual behavior among juveniles is Oct. 15 topic at Northwestern
Barbara Bonner of the National Center on the Sexual Behavior of Youths at the University of Oklahoma will share her expertise on juvenile sex offenders during an ISBA Child Law Section program on Friday morning, Oct. 15, at the Northwestern University School of Law.
Denise Kane, inspector general of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services since the office was established in 1993, also will speak.
After introductory remarks at 9 a.m., the program will begin at 9:10 a.m. with Current Medical and Psychological Research on Juvenile Sex Offenders. Other discussion topics are Risk Assessment and Re-offenders, at 10:30 a.m., and Effective Public Safety Policies Based on Research, at 11:30 a.m.
Bonner, a professor and clinical child psychologist, will provide profile information about common traits among juvenile sex offenders and appropriate risk assessment tools, and will discuss best practices of state governments in working with such offenders.
She is president-elect of the International Society for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect and past president of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.
Kane, former associate director of the Citizens Committee on the Juvenile Court, was an independent advocate for children in the investigation of failures by DCFS officials and caseworkers to fulfill their duties to safeguard minors.
To register for the program at $25 per person, call the CLE registrar at (800) 252-8908.
Three state officials will discuss "Effective Representation Before the Illinois Department of Human Rights: Useful Practice Tips to Advocate Successfully for Your Clients" during an ISBA luncheon seminar at 12 noon Wednesday, Sept. 22.
Sponsored by the ISBA Labor and Employment Law Section and the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the program will take place at the Illinois Education Association in Springfield.
Raymundo R. Luna of Chicago, chief legal counsel for the Department of Human Rights, is the program coordinator and moderator. Other speakers are Alice M. Ralph, manager of the department's Charge Processing Division, and Raquel C. Guerra, program administrator.
Their presentations will be based on a hypothetical charge of alleged unlawful employment discrimination under Illinois statutes. They will explain the investigative process and provide useful tips on effective representation.
Included in the discussion of issues are the intake and questionnaire, verified response, position statements, mediation, investigation, fact-finding conference, notices of default and dismissal, request for review, and direct appeal.
The fee of $35 includes luncheon. Teleconferencing is available on request. Call the ISBA continuing legal education registrar at (800) 252-8908.
Estates, trust seminars are Oct. 8, 22
The ISBA Trusts and Estates Section will present two Law Ed Series seminars next month: Friday, Oct. 8, at the Chicago Regional Office, and Friday, Oct. 22, at Hawthorn Suites in Bloomington.
Titled "Estates and Trusts Potpourri," the seminars are coordinated by section council vice chair Deborah B. Cole of Hoogendoorn & Talbot, Chicago. She will open the programs at 8:30 a.m. with introductory remarks. The schedule follows.
8:40 a.m. Power of Attorney for Healthcare and Property, with section council member Paul A. Meints of Bloomington; drafting POAs that clients can use, HIPAA concerns, and traps for the unwary.
9:40 a.m. Guardianship Update, with Valee L. Salone of Chicago; overlap with mental health law, involuntary confinement, eligibility for government planning benefits, and supplemental needs trust planning.
10:45 a.m. Law Office Automation, with Shari Mathis of Microsoft Corp., Chicago, and Felton Armand of Advanced Information Resources; software and hardware combinations that offer productivity enhancements.
11:45 a.m. Luncheon period.
1 p.m. Estate Planning for Non-Traditional Relationships, with Janet L. Grove of Armstrong & Grove, Mattoon; same-sex couples, blended families, and medical miracles.