Bonnie W.: My taxes exceed my mortgage payments, it’s ridiculous
Bonnie owns a 2,189-square-foot four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath Palatine home that is currently assessed at $306,090.
Bonnie took possession of the home in 1994. She has paid an estimated $113,694 in property taxes since 1999, more than a third of the currently appraised value of her home.
Bonnie is currently paying $8,492 per year in property taxes on her home, about 2.7 percent of the $306,090 value claimed by the Cook County Assessor.
“The schools are ridiculous,” Bonnie said. “I work in one, so I know exactly what they’re spending and what they’re doing with it. And the other part is Cook County or should I say Crook County. The more I hear about it; the more aggravated I’ve become.”
“The schools are ridiculous,” Bonnie said. “I work in one, so I know exactly what they’re spending and what they’re doing with it. And the other part is Cook County or should I say Crook County. The more I hear about it; the more aggravated I’ve become.”
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.
“Now that I am the only one paying the bill, it’s not very easy,“ Bonnie said. “My taxes exceed my mortgage payments, it’s ridiculous. I have parents who live in North Carolina. Same sized house with a deer lot and they pay $1,900 a year. That’s where I am going to when I retire.”
If Bonnie lived in Indiana the most she could be charged in property taxes would be $3060.90 per year or $5,431.10 less than what she currently pays in Illinois.
“I’m not staying here for sure,” Bonnie said. “You try to fight them every year. I’m now recently working with somebody who seems to have a handle on it, but still, it goes up. Exponentially it goes up. And it’s going to go up horribly next year. I’m tired of it.”
