Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program Application FAQs

Owners must show that they have made substantial improvements to the rental units, that they are maintaining the property, and that affordable units are rented to households with qualifying household income paying an affordable portion of their income for housing, among other criteria.

Applicants may submit Part 1 of the application at any time they deem appropriate. Part 2 of the application can be submitted only after the building is in service, meaning that the building is leased up and occupied with qualifying tenants paying qualifying rent.
Applications completed before January 31 of a calendar year will be reviewed before the CCAO begins to close townships. Applications completed after January 31 will be reviewed as expeditiously as possible, but in order to receive the reduction on that year’s tax bill it may be necessary to appeal to the Board of Review if the CCAO has already closed that township.

Same as Class 9. The application is in two parts and the fee is $500 for Part 1 and $100 for Part 2. Currently, the applications are not tied to a pay wall, but taxpayers who submit applications will receive a bill as applications are processed. The Assessor’s Office must receive payment in order for the application to be processed.

The law limits tenant income to 60% of area median income, which means that the income limit is currently about $56,000 for a four-person household. However, a property may satisfy the maximum rent and income limits with a weighted average of no more than 60% of area median income where federal, state, municipal or other ordinance, rule or regulation requires use of a weighted average.

Yes, so long as total household income remains within household income limits and the rent level stays within maximum rental limits

The program runs with the property. It is not based on ownership. New owners will be required to maintain the existing affordable housing participating in the special assessment program.

These communities are designated by the IHDA or the City of Chicago. The statutory definition of “low affordability community” includes: (1) municipalities or jurisdictions with less than 1,000,000 inhabitants in which 40% or less of its total year-round housing units are affordable, as determined by IHDA during the exemption process under the Affordable Housing Planning and Appeal Act; (2)  "D" zoning districts according to Chicago Zoning Ordinances; and, (3) jurisdictions located in the City that are designated as a low affordability community by local ordinance.  
https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/fulltext.asp?DocName=003502000K15-178
https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=2477&ChapterID=29

No, all units in the program have to be in the same building.

In order for the property to qualify for the preferential assessment on the entire property, the primary use, or at least 70% of the net rentable area (NRA) of the entire parcel must be used for residential purposes.  No more than 30% of the NRA may be used for non-residential purposes. If the non-residential use accounts for more than 30% of the property’s NRA, then only the residential portion of the parcel will receive the assessment reduction. 
For example, a newly constructed parcel includes 100,000 square feet of gross building area (GBA), but 10,000 square feet are dedicated to stairways, hallways, and other common-areas. Of the remaining 90,000 square feet or NRA, a maximum of 27,000 square feet may be used for retail, office space, or other non-residential use, and the entire parcel could be eligible for a preferential level of assessment provided the other criteria are met. 
In the event of a vertical subdivision of a PIN, the reduction would be applied to the residential class PIN only. 

“In service date” means the date on which the affordable units are occupied by tenants within maximum income limits paying affordable rents and the required new construction or rehabilitation has been completed.

Example 1: Owner A completes the new construction of Project X, a 10 story residential building, and receives a certificate of occupancy on June 1, 2015. On November 1, 2015, 35% of the units are initially occupied by households that are within maximum income limits and the rent charged is within maximum rent levels and therefore the affordable units are in place and in service. The in service date is November 1, 2015.

Example 2: Owner B installs new HVAC units, new elevators, solar panels, and renovates the roof of Project Y, a 10 story residential building, and thereby engages in a qualifying rehabilitation. During the rehabilitation, 35% of the units within the property remain occupied by tenants within maximum income limits and these tenants are charged affordable rents. The rehabilitation is completed on June 1, 2016. The in service date is June 1, 2016, because the occupancy condition was previously met, and the qualifying rehabilitation is completed on that day.
 

Review the webinar that is most related to your project and this FAQ, and ensure you  meet the income/rent thresholds and the requirements for qualifying expenditures. Also be sure to use unique project names for each application.

Hypothetically, your project consists of 100 units and you opt for the 15 percent tier of affordability. You must commit to putting at least 15 units in service at affordable rent levels to households within the required income limits. We understand there are situations where the building stays occupied during a rehab. In this case, we turn to our definition of the “in service date”. “In service date” means the date on which the affordable units are occupied by tenants within maximum income limits paying affordable rents and the required new construction or rehabilitation has been completed. So in this case, once the phases of rehab meet the expenditure requirements (dollar per square foot threshold and rehabilitation of the required amount of primary building systems), and the required threshold of affordable units are in service, the project would be eligible for entry in the program.

Properties cannot be in both the AHSAP and Class 9, but there are no current plans to discontinue the Class 9 program.

Yes, either a major rehab or new construction (occurring on or after Jan 1, 2015, or as part of qualifying Class 9 participation) that meets the thresholds in terms of cost per square foot and addressing the required number of primary building systems if rehab.

No - 7 units or less is the threshold set by the statute.

Properties with tenants who satisfy the maximum rent and the maximum income tests of the AHSAP are eligible for the AHSAP. It does not matter how tenants satisfy the maximum rent test; subsidies like the Housing Choice Voucher reduce rent to the tenant and that can qualify the property for the program. To the extent HCV programs typically require that affordable units are provided to households at 50% of AMI, given that our program requires that affordable units are provided to households at 60% of AMI, those units will tend to meet rent thresholds.

The Assessor’s Office held a series of webinars to help guide interested housing providers through the application process, which are listed on the Affordable Housing webpage. If questions remain, please contact the Assessor’s office at assessor.ahsap@cookcountyil.gov 

Same as Class 9. The application is in two parts and the fee is $500 for Part 1 and $100 for Part 2. Currently, the applications are not tied to a pay wall, but property owners who submit applications will receive a bill as applications are processed. The Assessor’s Office must receive payment in order for the application to be processed.

No. However, we may reach out to you with questions or concerns regarding an application that does not provide all required information.

New construction and substantial renovations made since 2015 can count towards this program. Additionally, properties that received a reduced valuation through the Cook County Class 9 program during the 2021 assessment year, or that qualify for Class 9 after a recent revocation may count renovations made in connection with the Class 9 towards the new affordable housing program. The property can be in the new program for up to 30 years following the qualifying improvements, so properties relying on improvements made in the past will not have the full 30 years in the program.

AHSAP application Parts 1 and 2, an up to date Rental Information Tenant Household Income Report form, Certification of Tenant Household Income for each affordable unit in service, and a copy of the deed for the property. As a Class 9 property, you’ve already submitted information on qualifying rehabilitation or construction and you do not need to resubmit that but you will need to submit the rest of the required information.

Yes, provided that you file a Part 1 and Part 2 application, pay associated filing fees, and demonstrate that the property is currently in service and meets maximum rent/income thresholds for the affordable units.

Yes, provided that you filed a Part 1 and Part 2 application, pay associated filing fees, and demonstrate that the property is currently in service and meets maximum rent/income thresholds for the affordable units.

Yes, provided the forms are correct, complete, and compliant.

Please list all units. You are not required to list household income for the units other than affordable units, but you are required to list rental income for all units including those not in the program.

The owner reports the square footage of all habitable space in the building (or, if there has been a subdivision, within the portion of a building that is participating in the program) on the application forms. Failure to report square footage of all habitable space is a basis for rejecting the application. All projects are subject to field checks from CCAO staff to verify the applicant’s representations in their filings.

We will not accept a Part 2 SAP application without having received a Part 1 application for the same project. However, given that waiting for a control number might create a delay with an applicant’s ability to timely file Part 2, we are not requiring that a control number be issued in advance of accepting Part 2 at this time.

Certificate of occupancy/certificate of inspection.

Once the application is filed, the DocuSign program freezes what you submitted, so technically no you can't change that application but you can file a new Part 1 application reflecting your changes (which you should want to do if it’s a major change like your planned tier). We recommend that you send a note to the affordable housing inbox to identify the initial filing and explain that the new filing is meant to replace the prior filing.

Generally speaking, substantive changes to an application (like changing the basis for application from class 9 to new applicant) requires a new Part 1 filing, less substantive changes (like the dates of start/stop of project) are not a reason to file a new Part 1 application.

 Part 1 of the application is to lay out your plans for satisfying the requirements of statute. We understand, however, that once rehab begins, you may discover that the plans need to change. What is most important is that the work you actually completed be accurately listed on Part 2 of the application and that what you list on Part 2 satisfies the statutory requirements. If your plans change from Part 1 but your work nonetheless satisfies the requirements, you may still be eligible for the program.

Please send notice of any technical difficulties to the affordable housing program email inbox: assessor.ahsap@cookcountyil.gov

Yes! Our email address for the Affordable Housing Special Assessment Program is Assessor.AHSAP@CookCountyIL.gov.

If you have questions about other affordable housing issues, such as deed restricted owner occupied housing or the LIHTC program, please contact us through Assessor.AffordableHousing@CookCountyIL.gov

While the quickest way to get a response is to email our inbox, you can also reach us at (312) 603-7821, although you will likely have to leave a voicemail and we will return your call as soon as possible.

No. These are automated alerts as a byproduct of the DocuSign platform. If you have submitted your application using DocuSign, we received it. However, feel free to reach us directly if you have any questions or concerns about a particular application.

Please wait to receive an invoice letter after filing your application, which we will send via email and hard copy. Submit a copy of your invoice letter with your check. Instructions for payment will be on the invoice letter.

If you wish to send one check for multiple invoices you may do so but please enclose one copy of each invoice letter with the check and list identifying info for all projects (i.e. project names and primary PINs) on the check if possible.

Yes, provided that (1) the means of doing so doesn’t violate any income based subsidy program you may be participating in, and (2) as long as you remain within the required threshold of affordable units (so if you’ve committed to 15% affordable units, and you have an affordable unit tenant that exceeds income thresholds, but another unit is put in service and meets thresholds, you remain within the 15% unit requirement.), and (3) the affordable units that are in the program are comparable with market-rate units in the program.

The reduction applies to the value as determined by the assessor in the current assessment/taxable year. 35 ILCS 200/15-178(d)(1) and (d)(2). In other words, the Assessor will apply any reduction to the value it certifies to the Board of Review.  If an owner appeals an assessor’s valuation to the Board of Review, the owner will have to ensure that the Board is aware of the property’s participation in the AHSAP, and it will be up to the Board to apply the reduction to its determined valuation.

No, in the sense that no one can get the benefit of this program on their 2021 tax bill or any prior tax bill. The earliest point in time one can receive the reduced assessment would be on the 2022 tax bill which will be issued in 2023, provided that the required elements are met and the application is timely filed and approved.

The Assessor’s records will reflect the assessed value initially set by the Assessor based on the property’s fair market value, as well as the final assessed value that reflects the applicable statutory reduction. Only the final assessed value that includes the reduction will appear on the property tax bill. The CCAO plans to provide the applicant with a letter identifying the value of the incentive.   

The reduction applies to the value as determined by the assessor in the current assessment/taxable year. 35 ILCS 200/15-178(d)(1) and (d)(2). In other words, the Assessor will apply any reduction to the value it certifies to the Board of Review.  If an owner appeals an assessor’s valuation to the Board of Review, the owner will have to ensure that the Board is aware of the property’s participation in the AHSAP, and it will be up to the Board to apply the reduction to its determined valuation.