The Senior Freeze — formally the Low-Income Senior Citizens Assessment Freeze Homestead Exemption — locks the equalized assessed value of a qualifying home at its base-year level, so later reassessments cannot raise the taxable value. In a reassessment year it is the most valuable exemption a Cook County senior can hold.
Who qualifies
- Age: 65 or older — born in 1960 or earlier for the 2025 tax year.
- Income: total household income of $65,000 or less for the 2025 tax year (that is 2024 income). The limit rises to $75,000 for the 2026 tax year, then $77,000 in 2028 and $79,000 in 2029. Household means everyone living in the home, and income includes Social Security, pensions, wages, interest and dividends.
- Residence: you owned and lived in the home as your principal residence on January 1 of the tax year and of the year before.
What it freezes, and what it does not
It freezes the equalized assessed value — the number the rate is applied to. Your bill can still rise if the tax rate rises, because the Freeze does not freeze levies. It stops the taxable value climbing; it does not push it below the base year.
The part people lose it on
It must be applied for every year. Unlike the Senior Exemption, it does not renew itself, and a missed year is a year at the unfrozen value. If you qualified and did not apply, a Certificate of Error can reach tax years 2021 through 2025.
The full guide, with the 2026 qualifying dates: Cook County Senior Freeze Exemption.