Brian S.: We are looking to move in about six to eight months

Brian owns a 1,612-square-foot three-bedroom, three-bathroom Round Lake home that is currently assessed at $139,965.

Brian took possession of the home in 2004 when it was worth around $234,431, or $312,921.33 in today’s dollars. He has paid approximately $84,864.63 in property taxes since 2004, or roughly 60 percent of the home’s currently appraised value.

“[Property taxes] impacted us by trying to watch where we spend,” Brian said. “We don’t spend as much. We’ve set aside a high amount every month to pay for taxes. We’ve had to cut out DirectTv and went to a cheaper cell phone company.”

Brian is currently paying $5,685.25 per year in property taxes on his home, about 4 percent of the home's $139,965 value.

Brian is currently paying $5,685.25 per year in property taxes on his home, about 4 percent of the home's $139,965 value.

“The property tax money is given to them [the lawmakers] for their own projects or for their own higher salaries,” Brian said.

Indiana has a hard 1 percent cap on property taxes. This means local governments are not allowed under state law to charge homeowner’s more than 1 percent of their home’s assessed value per year. The average property tax rate for the state of Indiana is 0.89 percent. Meanwhile, the average property tax rate in Illinois is 2.3 percent.

“[We need] lower taxes and more accountability as to where the actual money is going, not having these automatic rate increases every year,” Brian said. “It seems kind of crazy especially with the high salaries.”

If Brian lived in Indiana the most she could be charged in property taxes would be $1399.65 per year or $4,285.60 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.

“We are looking to possibly move to Arizona because of cheaper taxes, and there are much bigger homes,” Brian said. “We are looking to move in about six to eight months.”