Adrian M.: If I were able to find a job outside of Illinois I would leave.

Adrian M. owns a 1,232 square foot, 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom East Moline home that is currently assessed at $171,834.

“The house that I purchase almost three years ago, the family that lived there before had to move out because the property taxes were so high,” Adrian said. “They could not afford the property taxes. Since then, the property taxes have gone up by I think 15 percent.”

Adrian took possession of the home in 2016 when it was worth around $145,000, or $152,333 in today’s dollars. He has paid $10,842 in property taxes since 2016, more than 0.7 percent the original value of his home.

“The street coming to my house is in disrepair, I have to go around the long way to get to my house,” Adrian said. “I have never seen a police squad car come down my street. The schools in my city score below sub-par, so I don’t know what my taxes are going to. What are they paying for? They’re extremely high.”

“The street coming to my house is in disrepair, I have to go around the long way to get to my house,” Adrian said. “I have never seen a police squad car come down my street. The schools in my city score below sub-par, so I don’t know what my taxes are going to. What are they paying for? They’re extremely high.”

Adrian is currently paying $5,446 per year in property taxes on his home, about 3.1 percent of the Rock Island County Assessor claimed value of $171,834.

“I’m not doing any upgrades to the home or buying any big-ticket items,” Adrian said. “I’m not buying a new car. If I were able to find a job outside of Illinois I would 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.

“They need to put a cap on the property tax,” Adrian said. “They need to put a percentage and leave it at that so the property taxes do not continue to go up.”

If Adrian lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $1,718 per year or $3,728 less than what he currently pays in Illinois.

“I would think a 1 or 2 percent property tax cap would be good—similar to what Indiana does,” Adrian said. “We’re not getting what we pay for in Illinois with these high property taxes.”

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