Greg B.: Having to spend that kind of money on property taxes puts a major dent

Greg owns a 3,359-square-foot Lake Zurich home that is currently assessed at $623,730.

Greg took possession of the home in 1997 for $110,000, or $172,810.34 in today’s dollars. He has paid $206,393 in property taxes since 2000, nearly twice the original value of the home.

“I’m going to have to keep working to pay for the public pensions,” greg said. “I’m going to have to delay my retirement to pay for their retirement. You’ve got to get at the problem. The symptom is the property taxes. That’s just the symptom. The problem is the pensions.”

Greg is currently paying $14,008 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2.2 percent of the Lake County Assessor claimed value of $623,730.

Greg is currently paying $14,008 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2.2 percent of the Lake County Assessor claimed value of $623,730.

“We can’t afford the pension that we are giving public employees – Teachers, firemen, policemen – that we can’t afford,” Greg said. “For us to be able to give three percent increases compounded annually, it’s insane. And it’s constitutionally protected. More insanity.”

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.

If Greg lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $6,237.30 per year or $7,770.7 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.

“I haven’t made that decision yet but I’m close to retirement age and having to spend that kind of money on property taxes puts a major dent,” Greg said. “If you go to some other state where it’s more reasonable, that’s two vacations a year that I am paying extra just to live in Illinois.”