Jodi C.: As our property tax bill climbs our value is going to go even further down

Jodi C. owns a 3,950 square foot, 4-bedroom, 4-bathroom Winfield home that is currently assessed at $574,470.

“Here, the property taxes is neither fair or reasonable,” Jodi said.

Jodi took possession of the home in 2006 when it was worth around $240,000, or $300,173 in today’s dollars. She has paid $161,370 in property taxes since 2008, more than 6.7 percent of the original value of her home.

“First total bill was $14,918 in 2008,” Jodi said. “Now we’re up to almost $18,000. Meanwhile, I noticed our value that they are giving has gone $218,000 to $158,000 and yet we jumped $4,000 [in property taxes]. How is it possible? I looked and it looks like they just continued to raise the rate even though the valuation is going down.”

“First total bill was $14,918 in 2008,” Jodi said. “Now we’re up to almost $18,000. Meanwhile, I noticed our value that they are giving has gone $218,000 to $158,000 and yet we jumped $4,000 [in property taxes]. How is it possible? I looked and it looks like they just continued to raise the rate even though the valuation is going down.”

Jodi is currently paying $17,767 per year in property taxes on her home, about 1.6 percent of the DuPage County Assessor claimed value of $574,470.

“Your house is your biggest financial investment and we see it getting worse because as our property tax bill climbs, our value is going to go even further down. It doesn’t make financial to stay but it also doesn’t make financial to leave.”

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 Jodi lived in Indiana the most she could be charged in property taxes would be $5,744 per year or $12,020 less than what she currently pays in Illinois.

“So, I’m from Michigan and I wanted to move back to Michigan for a long time but my husband is from the south side of Chicago and he doesn’t want to leave,” Jodi said. “What I can say is that this is pushing him into my direction. If we get hit with another income tax on top of this, it’s just a matter of when.”

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