Robert G.: We were paying $1,000 a month in property tax.

Robert G. owned a 2,309 square foot Grayslake home that is currently assessed at $348,933.

Robert took possession of the home in 2009 when it was worth around $380,000, or $446,615 in today’s dollars. He has paid $95,448 in property taxes from 2009 until he sold the home in 2016, more than 25 percent the original value of his home.

“We were paying $1000 a month in property tax,” Robert said. “I was retiring from a job at Northwestern, so we moved to South Dakota.”

Robert most current tax bill was for $12,679 per year in property taxes on his home, about 3.6 percent of the Lake County Assessor claimed value of $348,933.

Robert most current tax bill was for $12,679 per year in property taxes on his home, about 3.6 percent of the Lake County Assessor claimed value of $348,933.

“South Dakota has no state income tax,” Robert said. “What we saved in property tax—we basically got our home for free in South Dakota.”

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 Robert lived in Indiana the most he could be charged in property taxes would be $3,489 per year or $9,190 less than what he paid in 2016 in Illinois.

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