Nick C.: My property taxes scream at me

Nick owns a 1,988-square-foot three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bathroom Maple Park home that is currently assessed at $226,752.

Nick took possession of the home in 2016 for $279,000. He has paid $12,721 in property taxes since 2016, around 5 percent of the estimated value of his house.

Nick is currently paying $7,449.38 per year in property taxes on his home, about 3.2 percent of the $226,752 value claimed by the DeKalb County Assessor.

I went to the assessors to get some relief,” Nick said. “There was no relief in sight. I told them, I said ‘one more time you do this to me, I will be in Indiana. Believe me. I’m moving.’ I can’t take this. A $2,200 raise in one year? Of course, that’s going to affect your life. I love where I am at. I moved here for a reason. I’m from the city of Chicago and I moved out here for a reason. I thought, you know, $5,000 that’s a little bit of a stretch but OK. Bam! Overnight. $7,500. If anything else happens, if it goes up any more, I’m gone. I’m out of here. I’m moving to Indiana. I’m done.”

I went to the assessors to get some relief,” Nick said. “There was no relief in sight. I told them, I said ‘one more time you do this to me, I will be in Indiana. Believe me. I’m moving.’ I can’t take this. A $2,200 raise in one year? Of course, that’s going to affect your life. I love where I am at. I moved here for a reason. I’m from the city of Chicago and I moved out here for a reason. I thought, you know, $5,000 that’s a little bit of a stretch but OK. Bam! Overnight. $7,500. If anything else happens, if it goes up any more, I’m gone. I’m out of here. I’m moving to Indiana. I’m done.”

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.

“I’m a public sector employee,” Nick said. “I am on a pension. I’m a Chicago fireman. I understand what is driving the costs to people living in the state of Illinois. It’s uncontrolled unfunded pension spending. I understand that. My property taxes scream at me.”

If Nick lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $2,267.52 per year or $5,181.86 less than what she currently pays in Illinois.

“Until the state of Illinois writes out of their Constitution that there is no way to correct public employees’ pension…until that happens, we’re in a world of trouble,” Nick said. “I get it, and I’m a public sector employee.”