Carol D.: I don’t want the state to force me to split my family by forcing me to leave the state and I’m angry about that.

Carol D. owns a 1,386 square foot, 3-bedroom, 1-bathroom Carol Stream home that is currently assessed at $153,800.

“I was always working two jobs to make it,” Carol said. “Even the jobs I had weren’t enough. For a single person who is trying to maintain a home in Illinois, they are driving you out of here. My children are grown and live in this state. I don’t want the state to force me to split my family by forcing me to leave the state and I’m angry about that.”

Carol took possession of the home in 1988 when it was worth around $89,065, or $189,834 in today’s dollars. She has paid $71,341 in property taxes since 1988, more than 80 percent the original value of her home.

“I have had to rent out a room in my home the last 12 years,” Carol said. “That is what covers my property taxes. I had to give up my privacy. I’ve been fortunate enough to get renters who were trustworthy and good, but it’s a risk to invite strangers into your home. Most people don’t like opening a hotel to keep their home. But, that is what the state has forced me to do. The state has forced me to start running an Airbnb basically because I can’t afford to keep my home unless I have someone helping me with that. It’s sad.”

“I have had to rent out a room in my home the last 12 years,” Carol said. “That is what covers my property taxes. I had to give up my privacy. I’ve been fortunate enough to get renters who were trustworthy and good, but it’s a risk to invite strangers into your home. Most people don’t like opening a hotel to keep their home. But, that is what the state has forced me to do. The state has forced me to start running an Airbnb basically because I can’t afford to keep my home unless I have someone helping me with that. It’s sad.”

Carol is currently paying $4,299 per year in property taxes on her home, about 2.7 percent of the DuPage County Assessor claimed value of $153,800.

“I’m already working full time and doing a part-time job, so I was really running out of options,” Carol 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. 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’ve got people like Michael Madigan who makes millions of dollars and us little guys struggle to pick up the burden,” Carol said. 

If Carol lived in Indiana the most she could be charged in property taxes would be $1,538 per year or $2,761 less than what she currently pays in Illinois.

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