The Office of Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas is mailing 16,828 refund checks worth almost $9.2 million to property owners for exemptions they did not originally receive, Pappas announced today.

Had the owners filed for the exemptions earlier, they would have received - and paid - lower property tax bills. Having paid more than they should have, the owners now were receiving checks for what are called "certificate of error" refunds.

Pappas said property owners can learn if they had received the exemptions at her office's Web site, www.cookcountytreasurer.com ("Exemption History"). The site will show if the owner had received these exemptions for the past three years:

• Homeowner - Applies to a single-family home, townhouse, condominium, co-op or apartment building (to six units) that is the primary residence. Can save $250 or more yearly.
• Senior Citizen Homestead - For persons 65 or older who have owned and occupied the residence for at least one year. Can save $160 to $250.
• Senior Assessment Freeze - Qualifying seniors can "freeze" property assessments to slow taxes from rising. Can save hundreds of dollars.

Approval for the "certificate of error" refunds came from the Cook County Assessor's Office, which approves exemptions. Pappas' office mailed the refund checks.

"Property owners should file for these tax-lowering exemptions well before the bills arrive," Pappas said. "To see that they did receive them, they can find out on our Web site."

Pappas' Web site now gives exemption information back to tax year 2001 (paid in 2002). If the site says "no" for any exemption for the past three years, the qualified owner should apply for it with the Assessor's Office; if approved, the owner would receive a "C of E" refund check.

In March, Pappas' office mailed some $10.2 million in such refunds to about 19,000 property owners.