More than 30,000 refund checks totaling $13,756,201 have been mailed to property owners who were granted tax-lowering exemptions after they had paid property tax bills, Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas said today.

The owners had filed late for the Homeowner, Senior Citizen and Senior Citizen Assessment Freeze exemptions. Now they will receive an average refund check of $300 to $400 for the Homeowner exemption, and $700 to $1,000 if they received all three exemptions, Pappas said.

Such refunds, caused by late filing for tax-lowering exemptions, are called "certificate of error" refunds. Once refund applications are approved by the Cook County Assessor's Office, Pappas' Office mails the refund checks to homeowners.

In an announcement at her downtown Chicago offices, Pappas was joined by several homeowners to whom she presented refund checks.

Owners still can file for such exemption refunds on the current tax year of 2002 and the three previous tax years of 2001, 2000 and 1999. Since exemptions are reflected on Second Installment tax bills mailed later in the year, homeowners should refer to those bills to verify that they received the exemptions to which they may qualify.

"Exemptions can lower tax bills," Pappas said. "Make sure you apply for them. Refund money belongs to taxpayers, not government."

Taxpayers should follow these steps to see if they are entitled to an exemption:

• On the right side of a property tax bill, refer to the "How Was My Tax Calculated?" section. Scan down to the Homeowner's Exemption, Senior Citizen Exemption and Senior Freeze Exemption.
• If there is a zero next to any of these exemptions, the homeowner did not receive the exemption.
• The homeowner should contact the Cook County Assessor's Office - by telephone at 312.443-7550 -- to see if he or she is eligible to file for the exemption.
• The three exemptions involved in the refunds being mailed by Pappas' Office are:
• Homeowner - Owners who have lived for a year in a single-family home of up to six units may qualify. The Homeowner Exemption can lower a home's Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) by up to $4,500 and save the taxpayer up to $450 year in taxes.
• Senior Citizen - Seniors who qualify for the Homeowner Exemption automatically qualify for the Senior Citizen Exemption. This exemption reduces the home's EAV by $2,500 and saves up to $250 in taxes.
• Senior Citizen Assessment Freeze - This exemption freezes the EAV of the property for the year prior to the one in which the applicant qualifies. Keeping the EAV low resists rising tax bills.