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Illinois property taxes are now so high that they are equivalent to a second mortgage, according to a new study from the nonpartisan Tax Foundation, a Washington-based tax-research and -education center.

The report, which shows the effective property-tax rates in each state, ranks Illinois as the second-highest property-tax state in the U.S. The top spot goes to New Jersey, where the effective property-tax rates is 2.38 percent, barely higher than Illinois’ 2.32 percent.

The Tax Foundation’s report is in line with an earlier study by WalletHub that showed the dollar amount for property taxes in each state. WalletHub’s study also ranked New Jersey’s $3,971 as the highest average tax burden, while Illinois’ was just a shade lower at $3,939.

An effective property-tax rate of 2.32 percent means that if a typical Illinois homebuyer purchases a home at age 30 and lives there until the age of 79 (the average American life expectancy), that homeowner will pay more to the government for the privilege of owning a home in Illinois than the home is actually worth. If that homeowner lives in that home a few years beyond age 73, the property taxes paid will have surpassed the home’s value. For example, an Illinoisan who buys a $200,000 house will pay $4,640 in property taxes each year, or $46,400 per decade. Owning an Illinois home for a little more than four decades means that person pays property taxes equal to the entire value of the home to the local government.

The Tax Foundation study is here.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:39 am

Comments

Pretty straightforward methods and explanations in the original study. We are in fact second highest in RE Tax paid as a percentage of home value. This calls for a tax freeze, which is supported by both sides of the aisle already.

The IPI additional comments/analysis distract rather than inform.

Comment by walker Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:48 am
Did they take into account the various exemptions for Illinois homeowners, especially the Senior Exemption?

http://www.therealestatescholar.com/illinois-property-tax/residential-property-tax-exemptions/illinois-senior-citizens-homestead-exemption.html

Comment by Anon221 Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:50 am
Yet all of the non-Chicago folks say that Chicago should just raise property taxes–if it got raised as much as is needed to pay for all of lil Richie’s kick the can budgeting, Illinois would no longer be behind Jersey for highest effective rate.

Comment by Chris Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:51 am
“…pay more to the government for the privilege of owning a home….”

Is that what it’s for?

When I made the choice to live in a high property tax community, it was more about the schools, libraries, parks, swimming pools, police, fire, etc.

And those things kept my home’s value on a bull run for twenty years, until the Masters of the Universe screwed it up. But my recovery has been better than most, because of those things.

But anytime you can find some other way for somebody else to pay for those things, I’m all ears.s

Comment by Wordslinger Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:52 am
Ok. Freeze property taxes. But don’t complain when your local school district makes draconian cuts. People want the world. They just don’t want to pay for it.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:52 am
I guess that we do suck compared to New Jersey. NJ residents are at least having some return on their tax money. They have 6 of the top 10 H.S. in the Nation:

http://www.newsweek.com/high-schools/americas-top-high-schools-2015

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:57 am
We have a flat-rate income tax, which is extremely regressive. So it’s not surprising that the Property Tax bears more of the tax burden than in other states.

Comment by UIC Guy Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:58 am
NJ has 6 of top 10 h.s. in the Nation:

http://www.newsweek.com/high-schools/americas-top-high-schools-2015

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:59 am
That’s exactly why I left. I try to explain to people here in my new state that in Illinois you don’t worry about your principal and interest on the mortgage….you worry about the monthly property tax escrow. Of course, here property taxes are 1/5th of Illinois! And no income tax either!!!

Comment by No Raise Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 9:59 am
Americans want the best ( fill in the blank ) they just don’t want to pay for it.

Comment by Hedley Lamarr Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:02 am
Do we pay for more functions out of property taxes than other states - such as schools, fire protection, etc? Because if the state funded the schools properly, our property taxes could be lower.

Comment by thoughts matter Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:02 am
@No Raise

If you’ve already left Illinois, why do you bother to comment at Cap Fax?

Seems odd to me.

Comment by Bill White Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:05 am
==Of course, here property taxes are 1/5th of Illinois! And no income tax either!!!==

Please name the state. They pay their bills somehow…

Comment by Pot calling kettle Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:08 am
I went to Indiana for my HS reunion and my friends are living in what I consider luxurious homes in and around Indianapolis with no more income than us. How can they do it? Oh, their property taxes are 1% versus mine with are nearly 9%. I told them what our monthly property taxes were and they were horrified. I mean, I do NOT want to live under Pence & the ignoramus gang, but where do I find one of these 2.32% communities?

Comment by Rayne of Terror Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:10 am
==They pay their bills somehow…==

Don’t be so sure. Took a road trip that hit five county seats in N. Mississippi and Louisiana. All five had no paved streets except for the state roads running through them. None. Also, most houses had septic systems and wells.

Comment by walker Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:16 am
Hence you see the conditions in a very blue state for someone like Rauner to get elected.

Comment by Very Fed Up Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:17 am
People think the proposed property tax freeze will freeze their tax payments at the amount they were the year before. As it was pointed out at the House Revenue and Finance Committee meeting the other day by the Mayor of Richton Park and State Representative David Harris, this will not be the case. The property tax extension will be frozen, not the payments people make. Depending on the PTELL exemptions that are carried over and the exclusions that are proposed, individual taxpayers could still see their property taxes increase.

The real cause of high property taxes in Illinois is the fact that the State provides inadequate support for public education. If we want to end high property taxes, fix the way we fund public schools. Doing anything else is just kicking the can down the road.

Comment by GA Watcher Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:17 am
@Demo- exactly.

The ILGA (R’s and D’s) are experts at passing off responsibility. More and more fiscal responsibility in particular.

As additional, costly, requirements/mandates were legislated for schools the state percentage of the economic support dwindled. Illinois has been ranked 49th or 50th in state support for education for the better part of the last decade.

I would guess this same thing is happening in other spheres of local government (yes, I know, we have too many but the services were going to be handled by someone and that costs money unless we go back to having prisoners do some of the work and I am not endorsing that).

Local government has but a few options to fund services. Property tax is chief among them and now you know why property taxes are so high.

Comment by JS Mill Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:18 am
After living my entire life in Illinois, I still care about the state and by posting I am hoping to show that it can become better. I am in Nevada now. No income tax, no red light cameras, no tollways, no municipal vehicle stickers, no crazy, multiple taxing districts, $5000 vouchers for any private school and nice weather, too. Car registration slightly more, but that’s the only downfall. And you wonder why people leave?

Comment by No Raise Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:21 am
just wait to see what happens to downstate property tax rates if the GA passes a cost shift on the pension plan. gonna go even higher.

Comment by salavador dali Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:21 am
I pay a high property tax and over the past fifteen years, no home in this part of town remains unsold beyond 90 days.

My aunt moved here, bought new, furnished it and paid for the interstate move - using the money she got from selling her 60 year old Chicago home.

On the other hand, the home I grew up in, has lost half its value since 2004, yet takes on it remain the same.

All these scenarios take place in Illinois. So, to squash and average all these scenarios into one “story”, avoids the actual realities Illinoisans face.

Perhaps Boomers have always thought of real estate as an investment because for them, it always has been. So, they imagine that anything happening to them, is happening to everyone else. That isn’t the case for anyone younger.

So don’t think that ALL houses in Illinois is in the same situation. These stories about averages don’t apply to many Illinoisans.

If this was not the case - NO ONE would be living here.

Comment by VanillaMan Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:23 am
This is old news if one has read previous posts. This link has also beemn posted before, but perhaps has added relevancy in this thread. And yes, the “tax hike” in Illinois has sunset since the data was compiled, but even taking that into account, we maintain our ranking among the worst. And I’ll ask again…what are other states doing to better manage their resources and expenditures that Illinois is not?
https://www.illinoispolicy.org/pew-study-blows-hole-in-myth-that-illinois-has-a-revenue-problem/

Comment by The Whole Truth Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:23 am
“We have a flat-rate income tax, which is extremely regressive. So it’s not surprising that the Property Tax bears more of the tax burden than in other states.”

That’s really not so hard to comprehend, is it?

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:23 am
Property taxes are high BECAUSE our state taxes are too low. If we had a better balance, and funded things like education more at the state level, property taxes could come down.

Comment by Democratic Response Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:24 am
No Raise:

Nevada has a huge gaming industry to tax. They don’t need to tax you to generate revenue. Trying to compare Illinois to Nevada is a bit goofy.

Comment by Demoralized Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:26 am
Keep in mind that many on the national stage are advocating shifting more and more responsibility to the states which will do nothing but increase your state and property taxes even more.

Comment by Nickname#2 Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:28 am
The Quinn-Madigan-Cullerton dream team had several years to replace the regressive property/sales taxes and drive for a progressive income tax but made 0 effort to get it done. It’s not by accident property taxes are so high.

Comment by Very Fed Up Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:32 am
properly fund education from state revenues and let property taxes go down.

Comment by Facts are Stubborn Things Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:32 am
Cheap interest drove home prices and property taxes higher and now people can’t afford them. It is the continuing deleveraging of our economy.

Comment by Liberty Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:33 am
Agree about the gaming industry. Still, that’s the competition and Illinois needs to be innovative and make some changes because at the end of the day, those incredibly high living costs come out of a household’s budget and it’s killing families.

Comment by No Raise Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:34 am
Property tax system in IL is NEVER going to change. Mikey Madigan appealed the Aon Center last year and reduced the tax liability from $29M to $26M. His law firms fee is 33%, making $1M on one property. Check out what Cullerton & Ald. Burke do for a living (since state job is part time). City is divided into 1/3, where those three make a fortune.

Comment by Impair Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:39 am
My old boss owns 1,800 acres of crop land in central Illinois. This year he will rent it to farmers and earn $560,000.00, with no overhead or expenses. He will pay less than $35k in property taxes, or $20.00 per year per acre on land that is worth $25M. Farmland covers 75% of Illinois total land mass. Tell me again why residential property taxes are so high???

Comment by Chupacabra Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:40 am
Huge variations on effective rate within IL. I’d love to see a county-by-county comparison.

Comment by SAP Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:40 am
Impair: Who has which third? I’d like to go talk to whoever controls the tax appeals where my business is located.

Comment by GA Watcher Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:55 am
There are 9 states with no income tax, and other states with an income tax lower than ours. Yet they all have lower property taxes.

Heck, New Hampshire has no income tax AND no sales tax, and their property taxes are still lower than Illinois.

In other words, it’s not the income tax that is our problem.

Comment by The Jimmy Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:55 am
=where do I find one of these 2.32% communities?=

I would like to know that as well! I wish.

Comment by burbanite Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:57 am
- burbanite - Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:57 am:

=where do I find one of these 2.32% communities?=

I would like to know that as well! I wish.

Ok, house worth $100,000 (because the math is easy). divide by 3 = 33,333, subtract owner/occupied = 27,000 multiply tax rate (which varies so let’s go with around 10%) = $2,700. $2,700 is 2.7% of $100,000

Comment by Democratic Response Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:10 am
Jimmy,

Have you ever been to New Hampshire? Yeah, things are a little different.

Comment by Democratic Response Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:11 am
There are different ways of looking at property tax rates.

Here is what TaxRates.org-the 2015 Tax Resource says about Illinois propertyh tax rates:

“The median property tax in Illinois is $3,507.00 per year for a home worth the median value of $202,200.00. Counties in Illinois collect an average of 1.73% of a property’s assesed fair market value as property tax per year.

Illinois has one of the highest average property tax rates in the country, with only six states levying higher property taxes.

Illinois’s median income is $68,578 per year, so the median yearly property tax paid by Illinois residents amounts to approximately % of their yearly income. Illinois is ranked 5th of the 50 states for property taxes as a percentage of median income.

The exact property tax levied depends on the county in Illinois the property is located in. Lake County collects the highest property tax in Illinois, levying an average of $6,285.00 (2.19% of median home value) yearly in property taxes, while Hardin County has the lowest property tax in the state, collecting an average tax of $447.00 (0.71% of median home value) per year.”

Comment by Enviro Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:12 am
As people have pointed out above, umm, the money has to come from somewhere.

We have no progressive income tax, and today in IL as most everywhere the big gains in income are coming within the top 10 / 1 percent, so it’s largely going untaxed. Our state sales tax is shot full of loopholes and exemptions. We don’t tax retirement income.

People who just want the property tax to go down, in isolation, are essentially just crying again for the government to provide them lots of services, but for them not to have to pay for anything.

Comment by ZC Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:18 am
== It would also reduce the huge discrepancy (a factor of 2 - 3) in total tax burden between the very wealthy and the first 80% of taxpayers. ==

This refers to total tax rate as a percentage of income, not to absolute dollars paid.

Comment by X-prof Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:19 am
@JSMILL
=Local government has but a few options to fund services. Property tax is chief among them and now you know why property taxes are so high.=

Actually, JS, as I’m sure you well know, Illinois property taxes are so high because Illinois K-12 public education overspends, especially for teacher salaries, at a rate far above the national average.

According to the NEA Rankings and Estimates Report, Illinois ranks a whopping 11th amongst states in teacher salaries (you can thank the “right” to strike and GA union bias for that)and pays 6.2% above national average. Illinois ranks no 14 amongst states in K-12 spending per pupil, an incredible 17.8% above national average at $13085. Class sizes do not reflect this overpayment. Average class sizes are only 15.4 in Illinois compared to 15.9 nationally, pretty much the same.

Revenues per student rank 15th nationally amongst states, so taxpayers are paying more than their fair share.

What about Illinois taxpayers ability to pay?

Illinois ranks 29th in personal income per K-12 student, far below the level of support taxpayers provide.

Clearly, the reason that property taxes are so high are primarily overspending, without commensurate value or outcomes, at the local level.

As far as filtering and redistributing more education funds through the state, only an idiot, or someone looking to steal from other communities would support such a hair brained scheme based upon the dysfunction we’ve recently seen in Springfield.

We need to restrain growth of K-12 spending, and there’s room based on national norms for pension cost shifting. Springfield needs to empower local schools and municipalities to right size spending levels and some truly counterproductive salary and benefit schedules.

That’s what Rauner seems to be proposing. K-12, on average, SHOULD be tightening its belt. Spending data shows that reform is needed to get spending in line with Illinois middle class taxpayers ability to pay and fair compensation and spending practices.

Comment by Arizona Bob Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:26 am
ZC: “the big gains in income are coming within the top 10 / 1 percent, so it’s largely going untaxed”

Absolutely right, a regressive tax system + increasing income inequality is an unsustainable combo.

Comment by X-prof Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:30 am
According to TaxRates.org-the 2015 Tax Resource, New Jersey, New Hampshire, Texas, Nebraska, and Wisconsin
pay higher median property tax as percentage of home value than Illinois.

Comment by Enviro Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:31 am
ZC

It appears the top 0.86% of Illinois taxpayers cover 21% of all income taxes. The top 17% cover 62% of all income taxes. Not exactly a regressive system we have here.

https://www.illinoispolicy.org/income-of-out-migrants-from-illinois-jumped-by-8000-in-first-year-of-2011-income-tax-hike/

Again, there are a bunch of states with lower income taxes than Illinois that also don’t have our confiscation rate property taxes.

Comment by The Jimmy Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:37 am
““The median property tax in Illinois is $3,507.00 per year for a home worth the median value of $202,200.00. Counties in Illinois collect an average of 1.73% of a property’s assesed fair market value as property tax per year.”
————

Nonsense. That’s utterly, completely misleading. Here’s why:

Their ’study’ is including ALL real estate taxes in their calculations (including farmland, mineral rights, oil assessments, etc.). The result is that the ‘median’ is weighted downward.

IF it was Residential/Commercial/Industrial only, the results would be a lot different. A LOT different.

A ‘1.73′ effective tax rate would mean an overall tax rate for your property of $5.19 per $100 of EAV.

How many people have a Residential property where their total tax rate is only $5.19 per $100?

Anybody?

Didn’t think so.

Comment by Judgment Day (on the road) Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:39 am
Oh I can do the math Democratic Response, but where in the state are the rates so low? I am paying 9.07! But, full disclosure, I voted twice to increase the funding for our schools and we have excellent schools. I think many posters have nailed it. You pay more in property taxes for better services ie. schools. This is why I am opposed to any shifting of money from school districts who have opted to pay higher taxes for their schools to those who haven’t. Without structural reform on the funding of schools, there will be pockets with 9+% property taxes with people complaining about the tax bill and people with 2.7% property taxes complaining their schools are underfunded.

Comment by burbanite Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:42 am
“confiscation rate property taxes”

Thanks.

For a moment, I thought about taking you seriously.

– MrJM

Comment by @MisterJayEm Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:48 am
My property tax’s are twice what my yearly payments were Illinois is one big trailer park and we all pay lot rent thank god my tax’s are frozen

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:48 am
I just saw this and had to post. Wordslinger got it early on. Comparing the aggregate paid for property taxes to the home value is a fallacy. Property taxes pay for services…streets, cops, firefighters, sidewalks for crying out loud, parks, schools, swimming pools, and so much more.

You want lower taxes? Live in a Riverwoods or Highwood or other communities that purposely do not offer amenities like some of the above. Then you can use what you “save” in property taxes to pay higher homeowners insurance because of your worsened public safety response time. And you can visit parks in nearby towns because yours are unsafe and have no amenities. And you can spend your money on a parochial school since the public school is overcrowded.

Comment by Mongo (the original) Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:52 am
Fair point, when a surprising % of politicians make their outside income on dealing with property taxes a system that reduces property taxes really ins’t in their interest.

Comment by OneMan Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 11:55 am
MJM,

Check the property tax rates in the south suburbs. It’s confiscation.

Guess you’re representing “it ain’t so bad” side of this

Comment by The Jimmy Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 12:02 pm
>>>Illinois is one big trailer park and we all pay lot rent

Comment by Buck I Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 12:11 pm
I’m ok with the math except that a $200,000 home purchased today will be worth much more 40 years from now.

I agree with the basic concept that property taxes are too high, owing in part to the state failing to meet its obligations to fund schools and the proliferation of units of government/taxing districts.

Comment by Tommydanger Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 12:15 pm
The top marginal income tax rate in WI is 7.65%, IA 8.98% GA 6%, AC 7%. In IL with our failed flat tax it’s now 3.75%. If Rauner wants to balance the budget he needs to quit yapping about his poison pills Madigan and Cullerton will never swallow which wouldn’t save or make any money for the state anyway. He should agree to put a graduated income tax referendum on the ballot for 2016 and raise income taxes back up to 5% until it’s passed.

Comment by markg8 Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 12:39 pm
Yes, my property taxes are high but I value what comes with that high rate, namely excellent schools, parks, police/fire etc. I feel I get a lot in return for my taxes. And, the yearly increase is not insurmountable. Now, on the other hand, I still own my prior home in Indiana, where my property taxes just increased 63%- in one year! I now pay more in property taxes in Indiana then I do in Illinois. And what do I get for my Indiana tax dollar? An abysmal school system (most parents send their children to the public schools in the next county) a library card, a mediocre police dept. (we have a volunteer fire dept.) and little else. And, guess what, I can’t sell the Indiana house in part because of the crushing tax rate.

Comment by Former Hoosier Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 12:41 pm
>> It appears the top 0.86% of Illinois taxpayers cover 21% of all income taxes. The top 17% cover 62% of all income taxes. Not exactly a regressive system we have here.

Though note the shift here - from looking at the income tax in isolation (which is neither progressive nor regressive; it’s flat) and then shifting to “the system” in IL, in effect substituting the income tax to talk about “taxes in general.”

Very common - and very misleading - move. If you want to talk IL’s overall tax burden, then you look at the whole thing, property sales corporate gas and all, for starters. What the income tax in isolation tells you, mostly, is that increasingly the top 17% of IL taxpayers are the only ones seeing any income gains.

Comment by ZC Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 12:55 pm
Illinois has a very flat tax structure. When you put the burden on regressive taxes, this is what happens. We’re one of the five most regressive states in the country and that’s why the middle class is hit so hard.

Comment by Carhartt Representative Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 12:59 pm
The bottom 20% of Illinois residents pay 13.2% of their income in state taxes while the top 1% pay 4.6% of theirs. Even Indiana is better at 12% and 5.2%. Wisconsin under Walker looks like a socialist paradise with the top 1% kicking in 6.2% of their income. Not only does it enable the lowest 20% to only pony up 8.9%, but it drops the share picked up by the middle too.

Comment by Carhartt Representative Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 1:05 pm
My 50 year old, 1300 sq. ft. Cook County home was taxed at approximately $5200 in 2013/2014. Current value, $150,000, virtually the same as it was 20 years ago, except the taxes then were only about $1700, if I remember correctly. Anyway, current tax level is 3.5% of TMV. So, the IPI story is hard to argue with.

Comment by Tom K. Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 1:45 pm
===
You want lower taxes? Live in a Riverwoods or Highwood or other communities that purposely do not offer amenities like some of the above. Then you can use what you “save” in property taxes to pay higher homeowners insurance because of your worsened public safety response time. And you can visit parks in nearby towns because yours are unsafe and have no amenities. And you can spend your money on a parochial school since the public school is overcrowded. ===

Riverwoods and Highwood both have their own police departments. Riverwoods (or at least part of Riverwoods) is part of the Deerfield Park District, and Highwood has a recreation department. Highwood is part of Highland Park’s school district, and Riverwoods is part of Deerfield’s school district. Highwood and Riverwoods are not tax havens.

Comment by Just Observing Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 2:16 pm
- walker - Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 10:16 am:
You are exactly right, & lack of septic systems, wells & natural gas connections holds true in other low tax states as well.

Comment by Mama Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 2:30 pm
@Tommy

=I’m ok with the math except that a $200,000 home purchased today will be worth much more 40 years from now.=

I guess you were asleep from 2007 to 2012. based upon the change in Illinois demographics from productive working folks paying taxes and adding to the economy, demand for decent housing doesn’t have a lot of room for growth. People on SNAP and TANF in Illinois aren’t going to drive the mid level housing prices. 40 years from now a lot of Illinois housing will need to be demolished, and the middle and upper income folks aren’t coming to Illinois to drive that market, in fact they’re being driven out. There are islands of growth as in River North, but by and large don’t expect much growth in condos and single family housing in the next decade.

I was bullish on Illinois residential real estate development for decades, but I’m really bearish overall for the future there.

Of course that doesn’t matter under current Illinois real estate tax law such as PTELL. NO matter how much real estate values drop, schools and municipalities keep their REVENUE increasing every year by the lower of 5% or CPI with new construction added to that raise. That’s once of the reasons poor suburban neighborhoods have amongst the highest tax rates in the nation.

Comment by Arizona Bob Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 2:44 pm
I just went to Canada for a fishing trip….just a bit north of Rockford there is a new stretch of highway……wonderful 6-lane road….there is a stretch of road with towering big lights on the side of the highway….for about a mile…out in the middle of nowhere…..I am sure that a lot of people got paid a lot of money to build that stretch of road…but when is it ok to question whether we need a 3 or 4 lane highway with an expensive set of lights out in the middle of nowhere…..like the bridge to nowhere….when can a member of the public question, “Why do we need to raise taxes to spend on an unnecessary road project, merely to put some people to work…who vote…”

Comment by I Told You Rauner Would Win.... Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 2:51 pm
I’m not complaining about my tax’s my high school was rated #1 in news week a few years ago money well spent please don’t come here

Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 3:08 pm
I would be curious to know how much lower the average property taxes in Illinois would be if the State was even just paying 100% instead of prorating State aid to 89% or 92% or whatever else it was all of these years.

Comment by MyTwoCents Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 5:39 pm
Um, JO, Riverwoods rents cops from the County, those are not Riverwoods employees. The Highwood Recreation Department is a gym and a summer camp and a handful of classes. Macomb offers more. Criminy, so does Charleston.

Website searches won’t suffice here. My 12 year old can make Highwood look like Naperville.

You go on up to Riverwoods and Highwood and find all the sidewalks. Oh there are some, but not everywhere.

Comment by Mongo (the original) Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 8:15 pm
My2cents and others also hit a home run. Were the state to fully meet its obligation towards education, how much would local property taxes drop in, say, Roxana, Sterling, Grayslake, Oak Park, Downers Grove, Effingham, Highland Park, and elsewhere?

Comment by Mongo (the original) Thursday, Aug 20, 15 @ 8:19 pm