The Illinois House has approved a bill aimed at helping victims of natural disasters.A few weeks ago, five southern Illinois counties were severely ravaged by severe weather, including tornadoes.
FEMA denied assistance, and has since denied appeals. A bill approved in the Illinois House attempts to provide some level of assistance to people that have been impacted. Some people who lost homes in the storms have been told by their county assessors that if they rebuild, their property taxes on the new homes will increase 500 to 1200%. State Representative Mike Bost of Murphysboro says this bill creates an assessment freeze for properties containing a residential structure that has been rebuilt following a natural disaster.
Bost says there are eligibility requirements that must be met, including that the square footage of the rebuilt must be about the same size as the original residential structure as it existed immediately prior to the natural disaster.
The measure now moves to the Senate.
