Richard E.: Does there need to be a change in terms of the political makeup of those who set those policies?

Richard owns a 1,792-square-foot Lebanon home that is currently assessed at $358,896.

Richard took possession of the home in 1972.

“[Our property taxes] have gone up drastically like everyone’s has over this last almost half century,” Richard said.  

He has paid $29,895 in property taxes since 2013, about eight percent of the current value of his home.

He has paid $29,895 in property taxes since 2013, about eight percent of the current value of his home.

“I think the governmental body receiving the tax funding has an obligation to be good stewards of that money,” Richard said. “And 75 percent of it is going to school districts which could spend less. I don’t think that is proper.”

Richard is currently paying $7,969 per year in property taxes on his home, about 2.2 percent of the St. Clair County Assessor claimed value of $358,896.

“The danger with anybody that gives tax money is [politicians] tend to view it as the money to spend and the next year the money goes up. It seldom goes down,” Richard 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.

“It would help, I would be a sensible thing to do,” Richard said. “One percent makes sense, I think it makes sense. It certainly is the way to go in terms of an objective.”

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 ought to be adopting goals to gradually reduce the taxes to a reasonable level and give the various agencies advance notice so they can make plans to reduce their consumption of those taxes and still maintain services that are essential,” Richard said.

If Richard lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $3,588.96 per year or $4380.04 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.

“I think that on the state level in terms of other taxes there needs to be a strong look by those who are able to analyze these things adequately at the state income taxing system and other taxes,” Richard said. “What I am understanding is that because of the extremely high tax rate that we have and because people are moving out it is going to get worse. Therefore, does there need to be a change in terms of the political makeup of those who set those policies?”