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“Kooks” on the fringe and “cooperation”
Monday, Jun 5, 2017 - Posted by Rich Miller * Chuck Sweeny…
That’s not the whole story, of course. Republicans were indeed spooked by the hardliners. And the only way the Republicans “in the middle” were going to be able to successfully fend off those “kooks” was if Gov. Rauner got on board. But, as we all know by now, the governor either wasn’t able or willing to close the deal and he pulled his party out. The Democrats also had their issues with unions and the trial lawyers, but they still managed to pass a fairly decent package of legislation over to the House. If Speaker Madigan had been finally put on the spot by a unified, bipartisan front and a package was signed into law, most would be forgiven. * Meanwhile…
And every one of those freeze bills was phony. The Senate Democrats, who were actually trying to work out a deal, never picked up a single one of those House bills, which should tell you something. The House did pass a bipartisan permanent freeze bill, but that was in the lame duck session and too late for the Senate to take action. The House didn’t pass that bill again in the spring, when it could’ve mattered.
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- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 1:40 pm:
Has anyone made a strong economic case for property tax freeze? Has anyone laid out why this is good public policy? If so, I haven’t heard it. It’s just feel-good politics wrapped in a blanket of unintended (but entirely predictable) consequences.
But yes, by all means, let’s pass a law freezing property taxes. Then what?
- Lucky Pierre - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 1:48 pm:
Maybe local governments will cut spending and we won’t have the highest property taxes in America.
A strong economic case? Why do you think we lead the nation in out migration?
Why do you think unemployment is so high in Illinois.
Because too many businesses can’t survive in our state because of high property taxes and workers comp
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 1:58 pm:
===A strong economic case? Why do you think we lead the nation in out migration?
Why do you think unemployment is so high in Illinois===
Unemployment - “because… property taxes!”
Hmm.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:06 pm:
===Why do you think we lead the nation in out migration?===
Lots of reasons, including the weather and the fact that, as a high population state, we have more residents to lose to out-migration.
===Why do you think unemployment is so high in Illinois.===
Frictional or structural unemployment? If you mean structural, I’d attribute a large part of it to advances in technology with an additional share attributable to out-sourcing, particularly in manufacturing.
I’m sure your mayor isn’t too happy about a property tax freeze. Or your school board. Oh well, according to you, they can just cut spending.
Now, before you twist this comment into claiming I believe everything is just swell with the Illinois economy, I don’t. I do believe that a property tax freeze, like term limits, is a political gimmick. Neither is an example of good, smart, progressive public policy, something we’re sorely lacking these days.
But if it feels good, do it, eh LP?
- wordslinger - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:12 pm:
If I recall, Syverson was instrumental to bringing in Alan Keyes.
And he sees kooks on the fringes?
Far out.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:12 pm:
If property taxes are so high why so many corporations moving to Chicago? McDonald’s and company are moving to one of the most expensive places to do business in the country, including property taxes, without blinking an eye.
Infrastructure. Educated work force. Transportation. Stuff (shopping, nightlife, entertainment, the Arts). That s why people are leaving the rural areas for urban and suburban areas. But off course lets not have a library or other things that might attract people to rural towns so we can keep taxes low.
People go where there are things they want to do, where they have friends and family, or the weather is better.
The shrieking bullet point people don’t get that.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:14 pm:
- Lucky Pierre -
The popularity of a policy doesn’t make it sound policy.
When Rauner signs the Rauner Tax, it will not be popular, but it will be sound policy to pay bills and alleviate the damage Rauner has done with the purposeful backlog of bills.
Rauner’s property tax freeze, while popular, the policy towards school boards and municipalities, it’s poor policy really driven by ending prevailing wage and collective bargaining, if Rauner got it the exact way Rauner wants it.
“Popular” isn’t always directly equivalent as “sound” when talking policy.
- Robert the 1st - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:15 pm:
=Lots of reasons, including the weather=
That’s always mentioned here. Did the weather in IL used to be better or what?
- Cable Line Beer Gardener - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:16 pm:
***Maybe local governments will cut spending and we won’t have the highest property taxes in America.****
It it occur to you that local governments already have cut spending since the recession and that they are picking up the slack for items that the State is supposed to assist and provide for?
- Arock - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:16 pm:
OW - there was an “and” in there not an or, which means add them together.
47th Ward - All states are dealing in these items in dealing with unemployment.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:19 pm:
===Did the weather in IL used to be better or what?===
Not really. In fact, since oh, about 1950, Illinois has been losing population. So the weather’s been pretty crappy for more than 70 years apparently.
Do you know what else is happening? Across the country, 10,000 baby boomers are retiring every single day. I don’t think too many are moving to Illinois to spend their golden years. Lol.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:19 pm:
===…there was an “and” in there not an or, which means add them together===
Use your words, explain policy in regards to outward migration and property taxes.
strong economic case? Why do you think we lead the nation in out migration?
Why do you think unemployment is so high in Illinois===
Yeah, I stand by my comment, thanks.
- Lucky Pierre - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:21 pm:
Some of the “smart, progressive public policy” in the city of Chicago and the 47th ward involved giving 10 year unaffordable contracts to labor according to the Inspector General.
Was the last 10 year collective bargaining agreement in Chicago fair to all parties or just labor?
A property tax freeze is obviously hatred by union labor and OW (one and the same) but would be extremely popular with voters.
- Judgment Day - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:25 pm:
“Has anyone made a strong economic case for property tax freeze?”
————-
How about this one?
Let’s play the game (outside of Cook County, of course - because they’re special).
- IF the tax rate (on your current RE tax bill) is $7.50 per $100, you are paying 2.50% of the fair cash value of your property every year in RE taxes (7.50 / .3333 = 2.50%)
If your property (except for farmland) is worth $200k, you get a RE tax bill in the area of $5000, or $416.67 a month. Now, if you’ve got some exemptions, the bill is lower. That’s a decent car payment. Or maybe a combination of your cable bill, cell phone service, and a few other monthly bills.
- IF the tax rate (on your current RE tax bill) is $8.50 per $100, you are paying 2.83% of the fair cash value of your property every year in RE taxes (8.50 / .3333 = 2.83%)
If your property (except for farmland) is worth $200k, you get a RE tax bill in the area of $5660, or $471.67 a month. Now, if you’ve got some exemptions, the bill is lower. Now, that’s a pretty nice car payment. Or likely a combination of your cable bill, cell phone service, and a few more monthly bills.
- IF the tax rate (on your current RE tax bill) is $9.50 per $100, you are paying 3.167 of the fair cash value of your property every year in RE taxes (9.50 / .3333 = 3.167%)
If your property (except for farmland) is worth $200k, you get a RE tax bill in the area of $6334, or $527.83 a month. Now, if you’ve got some exemptions, the bill is lower. Now, that’s a downright NICE car payment. $525.00+ a month can pay off a lot of different bills.
Btw, there’s lots of ares in Illinois where the tax rates are greater than $9.50 per $100. Lots of them. That means an effective tax rate of 3.33%
The old rule of thumb from CA (Prop 13) was that when the effective tax rate was greater than 2.83%, you just crossed into the danger zone. That’s why you are hearing the rising crescendo about property taxes here in IL. Rauner knows an hot button issue when he sees one.
We always used to work on the basis that mortgage qualifications could always be favorably adjusted as long as the cost of money (Thanks, Fed Reserve) was kept really cheap. That’s going away.
Which means that it’s going to be harder to qualify. Which means most of IL is not going to have a positive RE market. May take a while, but if RE tax rates keep going up, it’s not going to be good.
And for unexpected consequences, how about the fact that we’re still cleaning up all the dreck from the “Great Recession”, which is still out there overhanging the RE market.
The concept of a ‘hard’ property tax freeze is a legit economic issue. It may not be for downtown Chicago, but it is for the rest of IL.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:27 pm:
===Was the last 10 year collective bargaining agreement in Chicago fair to all parties or just labor?
A property tax freeze is obviously… by union labor an but would be extremely popular with voters===
Is it about Property Taxes?
You seem to be making the lone case it’s about Labor.
Very telling.
So if Labor was destroyed, you’d be cool with property taxes staying as they are?
Further, you are advocating state control over local control, to destroy labor… That’s an interesting take.
Not a Republican take, a Rauerite take, sure…
- OH - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:29 pm:
Syverson isn’t completely wrong.
There’s increased gravitational pull toward the right for Republicans and toward the left for Dems — that’s been true nationally for a while of course, but it’s definitely happening more on the state level now too.
I was surprised by the number of centrist Dems in the G.A. who moved decidedly left on issues like abortion and minimum wage. And the fact that not a single Chicago area Dem would side with Rahm over the CTU on the elected school board bill might illustrate the left’s ascendency in the state Dem party as much as anything.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:29 pm:
===but would be extremely popular with voters.===\
Do you know what else is extremely popular with voters? Providing great services to the public without charging enough in taxes to pay for it. That’s how we got into the long-term pension debt problem. We borrowed to finance daily government operations.
Good plan LP. If “popular with voters” is your criteria, no wonder you like term limits too. Why not allow a referendum to let voters lower their taxes? I bet that would be popular. Oh wait, didn’t your Governor recently propose that too?
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:32 pm:
JD, how much should education cost in your community? Isn’t that the better question? And once you have an answer, tell us who should pay for it?
I’m all for low property taxes. I also support things that local governments do, especially public education. If those costs are as low as possible, your tax bills will be as low as possible. Capping taxes is a dumb response to a much more complicated problem.
- The Real Just Me - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:32 pm:
Can Senator Syverson identify the kooks on the far left? The Communist Party of Illinois? I think I understand what he means by the kooks on the far right: Americans for Prosperity, ALEC, etc. But who are these lefty “kooks” Senator Syverson refers to? And it sure does seem that more Republicans pay more attention to the righty kooks, than any Democrats do to the unidentified lefty kooks on the left. If Democrats were listening to the lefty kooks, they would have passed a tax increase without any cuts all by themselves. But so far, Republicans have added no votes to what all reasonable people agree is an absolutely necessary tax increase.
- Roman - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:36 pm:
==Did the weather in IL used to be better or what?==
There used to not be air conditioning.
It’s no accident that Illinois’ drop in population relative to the nation started in 1950. (We’ve only lost and never gained Congressional representation in every census since.) That’s when home AC started, making Arizona, Texas, and Florida livable for the upwardly mobile year round.
- Robert the 1st - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:38 pm:
That’s a good point, Roman, thanks.
- Lucky Pierre - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 2:54 pm:
Does any reduction such as the public sector paying approximately the same as the private sector for health insurance “destroy” labor?
You seem to think so.
The Inspector general recommended the city work to cut city costs for health insurance. For a family of four, out-of-pocket costs are capped at $2,228.88 per year—less than half the national average for families of the same size at companies with at least 200 workers, who pay an average of $4,917 per year.
There are all kinds of unaffordable work rules in current city labor contracts that were negotiated in better economic times that will have to be reduced or eliminated.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20170531/BLOGS02/170539968/chicago-union-contract-renegotiations-could-save-city-millions
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:00 pm:
- Lucky Pierre -, LOL!
I thought this was about property tax freeze!
I thought this was about unemployment!
It’s about destroying labor for you, don’t pretend it’s about property taxes or unemployment. You are disingenuous to your core, just like Rauner.
Your phony concern for property taxes and unemployment is noted.
You want an end to prevailing wage and collective bargaining. Thanks for your clarity.
- Lucky Pierre - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:11 pm:
Again you think any reduction to labor is destroying it.
But you don’t think ever increasing property taxes to fund unaffordable pensions and increasing health care costs destroy property taxpayers.
Pay and benefits are the number one line item on a property tax bill.
Thank you for your clarity.
- Demoralized - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:12 pm:
I believe his argument depends on which way the wind is blowing and/or what rabbit hole he wants to go down on that particular day.
And, Lucky, you want to know how to create a better business climate? Pass. A. Budget. That’s step 1.
- Dublin - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:13 pm:
While I am not in favor of a property tax freeze….Here is a slight positive impact on state finances:
The lower property taxes are, the less credit the state gives to t/p’s on their state tax returns - therefore, higher revenue to the state.
It’s minuscule in the grand scheme of things - but, I don’t think anyone has brought this up yet.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:26 pm:
===Pay and benefits are the number one line item on a property tax bill.===
Which is precisely why it is difficult to find savings in government. Unless you can do the job with fewer employees, and in some cases you can, then anybody working expects a raise every now and then. In some cases, like police and teachers, if you cut too many positions, you sacrifice public safety or the quality of education.
LP’s solution is to unilaterally take back what public employees have won through bargaining. He’d be better served trying to find ways to do the same work with fewer people while maintaining good results.
And even though, over the long term, property values increase, LP is not willing to pay more next year than he is today. And he’d like that cap to be permanent.
In fairness, I like to have dessert even when I don’t eat my vegetables. Same principle.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:27 pm:
===Again you think any reduction to labor is destroying it.===
Nah, it’s not me…
Ending prevailing wage and collective bargaining, what do you call it, “slight tweaks”?
===But you don’t think ever increasing property taxes to fund unaffordable pensions and increasing health care costs destroy property taxpayers.
Pay and benefits are the number one line item on a property tax bill.===
It’s collectively bargained, you don’t like that. That’s not about property taxes.
Whatever cut you think of increase, you gone me the difference in your losses, let me know how that goes, lol.
You ca dispense with the wringing of hands for property taxes and unemployment. Thanks.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:30 pm:
“Whatever cut you think or decrease in actual monies, you give me the difference in YOUR equal cut losses, let me know how that goes, lol.
You can dispense with the wringing of hands for property taxes and unemployment. Thanks.”
- Susan - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:44 pm:
Property tax rate caps have done good things for California (1%), Massachussetts(2.5%), Indiana(1%) and other states.
Rate caps expressed as a percentage of a home’s fair market value are unambiguous as opposed to ‘tax freezes’.
In Woodstock Illinois, the property tax rate is 4.2% of home’s fair market value.
Abnormally high tax rates here have lead to declines in property values, which lead to rising rates…and so on.
Property tax rate caps would be one way to slow the death spiral of property values induced by ever increasing tax rates needed to fund not education, but the education industry as defined by those so compensated.
In Illinois we suffer from huge exportation of property value to D.C. via teachers paid at the highest tax brackets and astoundingly high teacher retirement benefits taxed only at federal level.
Property taxes, if ‘allowed’ to be kept in more normal amounts in a household budget might be spent locally and cycled through the economy in ways that teacher and Administrator salaries cannot be when federal taxes take such a large chunk.
BSA states mean household expenditure on property taxes as ~3.6%.
In Woodstock, a median income household in median value home must spend over 12% on property taxes.
This has huge impact on children.
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:47 pm:
We would need ~300,000 signatures on a petition to get a referendum on ballot for a Constitutional Amendment for (2.25%? 2.5%?) property tax rate cap such as many other thriving states have done.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:50 pm:
Any capping or lowering of property taxes pre-supposes an increase in revenue from the state to fund schools, does it not? So if you’re going to go to all of the trouble to amend the constitution to cap property taxes, please be sure to also amend it to allow for a graduated income tax. Because you’re still going to want good schools in your community, even if you don’t want to pay for them yourself.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:51 pm:
FYI- A property tax freeze does not lower taxes.
Best case- they stay the same. But they can go up in several scenarios.
And the property tax freeze still comes with a tax increase at the state level. You see, that is the bargain that Rauner is DEMANDING. Even though he talks local control.
More money to the state where they have been such good stewards of our money. You can trust them to do what is right./s
Poll the population and any question where taxes go down or are eliminated polls off the Richter scale. Every time.
These are no-brainers for the flaccid politician that is unwilling to really govern, to serve the public.
Real leaders look for solutions versus pandering.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:54 pm:
===FYI- A property tax freeze does not lower taxes.===
Agreed. But the Governor recently wondered aloud about allowing voters the power to lower their property taxes by referendum. You don’t need to be Nate Silver to understand how that kind of question would do at the ballot box.
I believe that was one of Rauner’s last minute additions to his ever-changing ransom note. list.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:59 pm:
=In Woodstock Illinois, the property tax rate is 4.2% of home’s fair market value.
Abnormally high tax rates here have lead to declines in property values, which lead to rising rates…and so on.=
Yes, I am all for a “rate” cap!! This is why politicians do this stuff.
In a rate cap your taxes will climb rapidly as the value of real property increases. Talk about increased taxes, Yikes!
The whole reason for PTELL (which is a cap on the levy or tax extension and not the rate) was to curb explosive tax increases for areas with rapidly rising values. 99% of people have no clue how it works and the catch phrases are deceptive on purpose.
Home values in Woodstock did NOT decrease because of the property taxes. they decreased as a result of a nation-wide property value bubble that burst in 2008 and affected the world economy.
As home values plummeted, tax rates skyrocketed in some areas due to PTELL or “tax caps”. To get the revenue that schools and local government were guaranteed tax rates rose to the level necessary to create the revenue. Now homes there are hard to sell because the tax rates are so high.
It was the plunging property values that resulted from the housing bubble that drove rates up. Schools had to build to keep up with expansion and were left with sizeable bond payment because construction companies actually expect to get paid when they build a school.
- Susan - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:00 pm:
“Good schools in your community’ needs to be defined.
In Woodstock, we pay over 130% per pupil per year compared to neighboring Unit District, as well as 130%+ of what Peers Unit Districts spend nationally according to finance tools at nces.ed.gov
- alt - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:01 pm:
a way to grow property taxes is by increasing property owners (alternative to raising rates / assessments / levies).
- RNUG - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:02 pm:
== Pay and benefits are the number one line item on a property tax bill ==
Actually, the number one item on property tax bills is funding the schools. I will concede part of that is salary and benefits, but a lot is not. And I’ll also make the point that if the State was paying at least 51% of the school funding, your property tax bill would be lower … but that would require HIGHER State income or sales tax.
So which do you want: (a) the current State taxes and local taxes or (b) higher State taxes in exchange for lower local taxes?
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:02 pm:
I think you do not understand what a rate cap is.
Also you are factually inaccurate in your opinion of what happened to Woodstock property values, perhaps you will compare Case Schiller chart to those values to see your error. As America recovered, WOodstock continued decline.
- titan - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:02 pm:
+++ - Anonymous - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 3:47 pm:
We would need ~300,000 signatures on a petition to get a referendum on ballot for a Constitutional Amendment for (2.25%? 2.5%?) property tax rate cap such as many other thriving states have done. +++
That isn’t an amendment topic that can be put on the ballot by petition (see Art. XIV, Section 3)
- RNUG - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:08 pm:
== We would need ~300,000 signatures on a petition to get a referendum on ballot for a Constitutional Amendment for (2.25%? 2.5%?) property tax rate cap such as many other thriving states have done. ==
That is not an allowable subject for a voter initiated constitutional amendment.
To get that on a ballot, it would have to be proposed and passed by the GA.
- JB13 - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:49 pm:
So which do you want? Higher taxes? Or higher taxes? Or higher taxes? I love CapFax comment boards.
Meanwhile, I live next to two households of state and local government retirees who tell me, point blank, they are leaving Illinois because taxes are too high. Ah, the incongruity.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:55 pm:
===I love CapFax comment boards.===
Love you too, bro. Thanks for making me feel so much smarter about this stuff. I could just spew uninformed opinions in drive-by comments but, because I love you, I try to infuse some facts and logic into the discussion.
Sure, it’s lost on a lot of folks who’ve already made up their minds. But at least you appreciate it. That makes it all worth it.
In the future, just say thanks. I’ll assume the love will always be there.
- RNUG - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 4:58 pm:
== Meanwhile, I live next to two households of state and local government retirees who tell me, point blank, they are leaving Illinois because taxes are too high. ==
They must be complaining about sales tax or property tax, because they aren’t paying any income tax on their pensions or other retirement income. Or they must have a second job where they are paying income tax.
I hope they choose wisely where they move. Most other state’s tax retirement income and a lot also tax Social Security.
- wordslinger - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 5:18 pm:
Way back in the day, before he got the big chair, Pat Quinn peddled property tax freezes and term limits while ignoring the nuts-and-bolts, hard questions of governing.
He was considered in some press circles as a populist gadfly.
Today, Bruce Rauner, as governor, peddles property tax freezes and term limits while orchestrating record, runaway GRF debt, destruction of the social service network and the vivisection of Illinois public community colleges and universities. And he’s shorting K-12 a billion, too.
He’s considered in some press circles as a fiscally conservative reformer.
So much for Darwin’s theory.
- Anonymous - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 5:29 pm:
===FYI- A property tax freeze does not lower taxes.===
That is incorrect, if assessed value increases.
The freeze is on the extension, that is, on the amount of property tax dollars billed real estate owners.
If the assessed value increases and the amount bill remains constant, individual property owners should see their bills decrease a bit, ceteris paribus.
- JS Mill - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 5:29 pm:
@anonymous- Get a name. Then get a clue.
What I described is exactly what happened.
A rate cap- is exactly that. A rate cap. Different than an extension limitation.
@47th- I did not hear Rauner say that. Thanks for the info. That would devestate public schools and he knows it. I wonder how many of my fellow superintendents would standing on stage with him like props now?
- 47th Ward - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 5:41 pm:
“Rauner wants to give local taxpayers the power to control whether their property tax rates go up or “to do a voter referendum to lower the property taxes if residents of a community want to lower their taxes. They can vote to do it and they can force them down.”
https://www.ilnews.org/news/state_politics/rauner-give-local-voters-control-over-property-taxes-and-government/article_a0bb579e-416f-11e7-b8fb-9b3ff7574cdc.html
- JS Mill - Monday, Jun 5, 17 @ 6:12 pm:
====FYI- A property tax freeze does not lower taxes.===
That is incorrect, if assessed value increases.=
That is correct, however if exemptions increase or corporations get reductions your taxes can actually increase even if overall values increase.
My point is that taxes are going up one way or another.
@47 thanks for the link. That is truly scary. People will not stop to think of the effect. Rauner can afford to bump some poor kid out of a CPS spot but most people will not be able to do that or go private when they cripple public schools at the hands of panderers like Rauner.
- Susan - Tuesday, Jun 6, 17 @ 8:05 am:
In Woodstock IL, at 4.2% property tax rate (with schools taking ~2/3) the proportion of household income taken in property taxes is above 12%.
On a median priced home ($190,000) with homestead exemption that is $7140.
If one assumes median income households ($57,000 in Woodstock) purchase $15000 in taxable goods annually, at 8% sales tax rate that is $1200, or 2% of household income.
Income tax at 3.5% would be $1995, or 3.5%.
Property tax is by far the highest burden by percentage of household income.
- Susan - Tuesday, Jun 6, 17 @ 8:13 am:
Furthermore, homes in high property tax rate areas lose value annually via tax rate capitalization.
Academic study:”Small Homes, Public Schools, and Property Tax Capitalization” by Ryan Gallagher, Haydar Kurban, and Joseph Persky.
Anecdotal evidence: In Woodstock, District 200 bought a building in 1998 for $365,000. Today they are attempting to sell it for $400,000. If they can get asking price, it would be a 10% gain in 19 years, compared to Case Shiller home index up over 110% and commercial property index up over 85% in that time frame.
So people here lose double, by paying for the same services delivered everywhere else in America at much lower prices and similar quality.