Bill V.: It’s like, they’re going to get their money and they didn’t care how they did it.

Bill V. owned a 2,372 square foot, 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom Grayslake home that is currently assessed at $250,533.

“I lived in Grayslake and I have sold and moved out of the state,” Bill said. “I was paying $5,000 to $7,000 in property taxes and it was going up every year.”

Bill took possession of the home in 2009 when it was worth around $252,000, or $296,176 in today’s dollars. He sold the home in 2017 for $237,000. He paid $63,238 in property taxes from 2009 to 2017, more than 25 percent the original value of his home.

“They’re going to have to get people elected that are not in bed with the union and they’re going to have to change something because there is no other state that I know of, maybe California or New York, that has something so ridiculous as Illinois,” Bill said. “They can’t pay for it. So what they do is gouge everybody else.”

“They’re going to have to get people elected that are not in bed with the union and they’re going to have to change something because there is no other state that I know of, maybe California or New York, that has something so ridiculous as Illinois,” Bill said. “They can’t pay for it. So what they do is gouge everybody else.”

“It’s like, they’re going to get their money and they didn’t care how they did it.”

Bill was paying $7,972 per year in property taxes on his home, about 3.1 percent of the Lake County Assessor claimed value of $250,533.

“It would be a fine state to live in if it had a normal [property tax] but they don’t,” Bill said. “They have some of the highest property taxes in the United States. They’re losing people left and right and businesses are moving out.”

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.

“I’m not sure how they’re going to collect taxes when they’re losing people and they’re losing businesses,” Bill said. “Somebody needs to be elected that understands how to turn this around. Right now, the people we have in the House and Senate, they’re not interested in that. They’re interested in charging more taxes to protect the union.”

If Bill lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $2,505 per year or $5,467 less than what he paid in Illinois.

To share your story with us, please send an email including your full name, address, phone number and email address to news@saveyourhomenow.org.