Wendy S.: We’re close enough to Missouri that it’s a possibility to move.

Wendy S. owns a 2,584 square foot, 4-bedroom, 2-bathroom Edwardsville home that is currently assessed at $492,600.

“I’m spending over $1,000 a month on property taxes,” Wendy said. “I live in a nice home, but it’s not a mansion. That’s more than many people spend on a mortgage.”

Wendy took possession of the home in 2009 when it was worth around $460,000, or $540,639 in today’s dollars. She has paid $89,531 in property taxes since 2009, more than 1.9 percent the original value of her home.

“Here in Illinois, especially in Edwardsville, we see twice or three times as much in property taxes as those communities do,” Wendy said. “What bothers me about that is, locally, we hear propaganda about how we’ve got one of the best schools in the state, which by any measure is not true. If you look at the school’s rankings it’s not horrible by any means, but it’s certainly not the best.”

“Here in Illinois, especially in Edwardsville, we see twice or three times as much in property taxes as those communities do,” Wendy said. “What bothers me about that is, locally, we hear propaganda about how we’ve got one of the best schools in the state, which by any measure is not true. If you look at the school’s rankings it’s not horrible by any means, but it’s certainly not the best.”

Wendy is currently paying $12,110 per year in property taxes on her home, about 2.4 percent of the Madison County Assessor claimed value of $492,600.

“There needs to be some measure of centralization in school funding and not have it dependent on local taxes,” Wendy said. “When it gets to the point where I am not employed like I am because I’m getting older, I’m not going to stay in Illinois. We’re close enough to Missouri that it’s a possibility to move.”

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.

“You’ve got to put the burden equally on the people,” Wendy said. “Those who are very affluent who are dodging paying their fair share and the companies that dodge paying their fair share, they should be held accountable. Not just the people who are struggling and work 40-50 hours a week.”

If Wendy lived in Indiana the most she could be charged in property taxes would be $4,926 per year or $7,184 less than what she currently pays in Illinois.

“I don’t buy this idea that corporations will just move out of state if they have to pay property taxes,” Wendy said. “The problem right now is that Illinois is in such a huge hole financially. It’s hard to know how they’re going to dig out of it. You just can’t keep taxing homeowners. At some point, they’re just going to leave.”

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